Some time ago, I was on the receiving end of a massive screw-up at one of my previously favorite restaurants and WiFi hotspots, Panera Bread in Chelmsford, MA. I have not been back.

Ironically, the screw-up itself hasn’t kept me away, because we all screw up sometimes, because we’re all only human. I can’t hold an honest mistake against someone. But how the organization handled the mistake demonstrated that it probably learned nothing from it. So why go back? I might just experience the same sort of foul up again. And then I realized that this is a dysfunction of US society, including the way we educate our kids and the way we run our businesses.

Here’s what happened: I walked into the restaurant, my laptop in one hand, as I frequently do. Waiting in line, I chose a salad from the menu. A very friendly employee then told me she could take my order, which she did. She then asked if I had a MyPanera card, which I did not. But of late, I’d been eating more frequently at the restaurant chain, so I asked if it was a simple process. Indeed, it was. She asked me my name, scanned in a new card, and explained that I could go online to register the card in order to get bonuses and discounts. Kewl! She then gave me my receipt and a pager, which would buzz when my food was ready so that I could get it at the pick-up counter.