I Am Going to Be Really Nice to Receptionists and More Mindful of the Mentally Ill

As a result of the economy and other factors, I’m currently temping while I look for a decent PR/writing/editing gig, preferably in the sciences. Currently, I’m working as a receptionist for a mental health advocacy group, where I have to field and sort calls from health care providers, family members, and consumers (a nice way to say “people with mental illnesses”).

I had never given receptionists much thought before, although I was always pleasant to them when I had a higher level job. Well, now I have a learned what a hard, thankless job they have, especially without benefits or decent pay.

Here are some more things I have learned:

I will always state my name, my organization, and the person I wish to speak to.

I will make my calls brief and to the point without telling my entire life story or rambling endlessly.

I will be courteous if the person I wish to speak with is not available and I will not command the receptionist to know his/her whereabouts at all times.

I will not expect the receptionist to be able to diagnose an illness, discuss drug therapies, or dispense legal referrals. I work hard to find people help, but if the experts in that subject are not available/at lunch/in a meeting/don’t want to be bothered, why does anyone expect the receptionist to be a doctor/lawyer/pharmacist?

And once I get back on the professional career ladder, I will reply to e-mails and voice mails every day without fail. People will call me, aske to be transferred to voice mail, and then a week later will call again and ask why there was no response to several voice mails and e-mails. To me, that just shows a lack of professionalism, especially when you’re supposed to be an advocate for people who cannot help themselves.

This job has also given me greater sympathy for the problems of the mentally ill. It is shocking how often schizophrenics and bipolar disease sufferers are arrested by the police and charged with crimes when what they need is medical care. I get calls every day from family members asking for legal referrals for their relatives caught in the legal system who really need therapy and care. I also discovered that mental illness lacks parity in insurance coverage so that while physical ailmants are often fully covered, drugs and therapy for mental health consumers are woefully underfunded. I go through chronic depression, but mine is manageable; I can’t fathom how one lives with the debilitation of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, let alone helplessly having to watch a loved one suffer.

I suppose those should be different rants, sorry. I guess it boils down to

  1. Be mindful of your phone manners.
  2. Pay your receptionists more money and treat them kindly.
  3. Return your voice mails and e-mails promptly.
  4. Agitate for more funding for programs to aid the mentally ill.
    Don’t hit.

Hooray ! Great rant on both counts. As a longtime temp receptionist I agree wholeheartedly with the first part.

You have probably noticed the fundamental conundrum with receptionists/admin people. Namely: it’s a challenging job and it calls for someone intelligent. But it pays badly and is really low-status. Therefore anyone with a brain moves on and gets a new job. Meaning that the ‘successful’ ones are the ones not clever enough to get a new job.

Hijack over.

Message:

Be nice to your receptionist !

(About the mentally ill I am not so well-versed, except to say that I agree with you wholeheartedly.)

Good luck finding a job in the field of your expertise gobear

I thought you brought up a good point about how the mentally impared’s insurance doesn’t cover the illness yet covers the flu or chicken pox. Why is that? Why do insurance companies not cover mental illness BEFORE it gets out of hand. I mean if someone is depressed before they get clincially depresssed or worse yet suicidal, why not cover their care? Why not treat a Bi-polar in the early symptoms and not wait until they become manic? It always bugged me to that insurance will cover the birth of a baby but not prevention. Prevention would cost a whole lot less then the medical life of a child for 18 years. Also why is it that they cover Viagra? Isn’t that ironic?

With such a reasoned attitude, I hope when you do get back to where you want to be that you go all the way to the top, spreading such sense all along the way.

You do learn a lot about people that way don’t you Gobear.

I did some time as a receptionist at a mental health practice and have to say that most often the patients were the easiest ones to deal with!

But I hear you on all counts… I wasn’t a doctor or a lawyer or a pharmacist and it was difficult to get people to comprehend that.

Oh and to add to your rant a little… Sorry I will not divulge confidential information about a patient thank you very much!

tanookie your last comment is shared by Mrs. InkBlot to me quite frequently. Especially frustrating are family members that don’t grasp this. It may seem draconian, but it’s federal law that medical providers cannot give out patient information without express consent of the patient…even to a spouse, parent or child (unless, I assume, the patient is a minor and has a legal parent/guardian type relationship - but don’t quote me).
InkBlot

God, how this one irks me.

I am self-employed, and I respond to EVERY business-related e-mail. Even the dumb ones where some schmuck wants me, a freelancer, to hire THEM as a freelancer. (Do your homework much? Any public information about my work clearly states that I’m a freelancer, not a company with employees. And copyeditors need the ability to pay attention.) I send them a brief canned reply saying I don’t hire freelancers, and I wish them well. Sometimes private authors get hold of my name and ask about my rates. I reply that I don’t work for private individuals, and I wish them luck with their project or offer to post their query on a freelancers’ forum where I think someone might be willing to help them. A courteous reply, even to say “No,” is just the professional thing to do.

I make jewelry. At the beginning of JUNE I read an article in a professional craft magazine about Wisconsin galleries that listed brief descriptions written by the owners, including types of work they were looking for. One gallery was in a nearby town; not only did they say they were looking for jewelry, but I had actually once been at a dinner party with the owners and conversed with them at some length about this and that. So I sent off a brief e-mail, reintroducing myself and offering to send them some .jpgs of my recent work.

It is now mid-September and I have heard not one peep.

I mentioned this to some mutual friends, who said that this couple has been busy with remodeling and other things, blah blah blah. Too bad. They SAID they were looking for jewelry, and they can’t be bothered to reply to my e-mail, even to say “No thanks”? Fuck that. If that’s their business sense, I don’t think I want to deal with them.

first let me say that my shift key is broken. i am not one of those stream of consciousness posters.

excellent points gobear. my brother is schizophrenic and it is very difficult for my family to find effective medical or legal help.

generally he has to be arrested or locked up for the proper health authorities to take any notice of his plight. the legal system acts as a blunt instrument when it comes to the mentally ill. it has taken years and thousands of dollars in medical bills and legal fees to put together even the most basic treatment plan. any help you can give these people and their families is greatly appreciated.

I’ve been thinking about this. It may be because of lingering stigma over mental disease, or it may be because government types don’t consider it a “real” disease - a “just cheer up and you’ll get over it” type of attitude, or (on a related note) they assume you can just pop a couple of pills and be done with it.

Who knows?

I remember when I used to volunteer at the Canadian Red Cross (when they were still in charge of blood donation) I maned the main phone line where people would call in to find out if they were eligible to donate.

It’s amazing the number of people, who without inquiring if I was a nurse, or in any way medically qualified (I’m not and I’m not), would start devulging REALLY personal health information. Erectile dysfunction. Sexually transmitted diseases. As yet undiagnosed funky things on private parts.

Listen, folks. Not only do I not know the answer to your question (If funky crotch things = blood donation diferal - I suspect it does), but it’s also WAAAAY more information than I need. For the love of Pete - ask for a nurse!

I was a receptionist at a law firm. We specialized in real estate and bankruptcies (both personal and corporate), so in addition to the usual bullshit (“No, sir, I don’t know why he hasn’t called you back; I’m sorry, ma’am, he’s just running late [45 minutes] for his appointment,” etc.), you can add the yahoos who want to cut down their neighbor’s tree and the sob cases who ran up six figures on a dozen credit cards. Plus, to make it worse, one of our attorneys signed up for a pro bono program that made him guardian ad litem in juvenile court, so you can throw child abuse into the mix.

I am very, very nice to receptionists.

(Please tell me to fuck off if you want.)

I think you do. I say try again. This time send an actual package with photos of your work, and state that you will call at so-and-so date and time to discuss your jewelery. The fact that you have met them socially is a big plus, however it might have been too long to be of any use.
Good luck.

Well, no, NotMrKnowItAll, I won’t tell you to fuck off, but I will beg to disagree. I find their lack of response quite unprofessional, and I definitely don’t want to deal with people who don’t respond to business queries.

Let me contrast my experience with another gallery where I do have some pieces displayed. The owner responded courteously and promptly to my initial phone call. She produced a comprehensive contract when I showed up to set up my display, and offered the use of a cart. She and I went over my inventory list together to make sure it was correct. She provided copies of both my signed consignment contract and inventory list. And every time I enter the store, she comes over to greet me and talk about how things are selling, who looked at what piece, etc.

This gallery owner has shown an interest in me and my work, and has been exceptionally courteous and businesslike. I like that. I don’t like the idea that I have to go beating someone’s door down just to get them to talk to me. Either they want to see my work or they do not. Either way, I deserve the courtesy of a simple reply. Failing that, I’ll take my pieces elsewhere – or not; it’s no skin off my nose if I don’t get into this gallery, since the jewelry is only a sideline for me.

Even if I’m sick, or on vacation, or otherwise “off duty,” I still check my business messages and respond to them promptly, even if it’s only to say “I’ll get back to you tomorrow (or whenever).” I think that whether a person does so (or not) speaks volumes about their level of consideration for the people they deal with.

:dubious: why would you want to agitate the mentally ill? :wally

You see, I’ve always been kind to the receptionists but that’s because I work in academica, where the receptionists hold the Keys to All Knowledge.

Do you want to know how to get a master key to the building? How to enroll in a course when the course is full but the instructor has given you permission? Who the TA is for the course you’re already taking? How to requisition equipment? Do you think the head of the department knows? Hah. You ask the head of the department’s secretary, and you ask nicely, and you say please and thank you if you know what’s good for you, because that person either knows the answer or knows how to find out and no one else does.

I’ve become accustomed to a world where receptionists hold a great deal of power.

hijack begins

Um, I’m a freelance translator, and I used to do a lot of work subcontracting for other freelance translators.

hijack ends

Messrs. and Mmes. receptionists, may I ask if you find the following conversation at all rude?

-Hello?
-Hello, I’m trying to reach … .
-I’m sorry, s/he’s not here at the moment.
-Okay, perhaps you can help me.

matt, point taken. Nonetheless, most of these missives are clearly worded as though the writer believes that I am a big employer, rather than a lone working slob and possible source of subcontracting; they also often indicate that the person is seeking work completely unrelated to what I offer (“I can help you with all your Japanese/Hindi translation needs!”). (I might also add that the grammar/usage/format usually precludes these people from work as a copyeditor, IMO.)

Gobear, congratulations from someone who’s job duties still include receptionist. I’ve been condescended to by people while covering the reception desk more times than I can count (once by a fellow who was applying for a job as a developer when I was the senior developer in the department – I almost hoped they’d hire him so I could introduce myself!:D). I’ll also let slip a little secret: there are some people who will never be in the office when certain people call, no matter how many times they do. Take the hint! Also, if you don’t tell me who you are and what this is in reference to, I’m not putting you through to the President, Vice President or other Grand High Poobah. No, I’m not the person who makes the decisions; I’m the person who makes the decisions about who gets to talk to the person who makes decisions and, if I make the wrong decision, I might find myself out of a job again. Putting you through without knowing who you are and what you want is the wrong decision.

Ahem. Where was I?

As for the state of treatment for the mentally ill in America, it is ridiculous. Ten years ago, I found it was easier to get treatment for being an alcoholic tha it was for being a depressive if you had no insurance. I was lucky. I called a suicide hotline one night because I didn’t have anything lethal in my apartment, and they referred me to a clinic. When I told them that clinic had already turned me down, along with everywhere else I could find on the island of Oahu, they told me not to call but to go there in person and demand help. I was able to do so and got very good treatment indeed. I’m very open about my history of depression because I refuse to be stigmatized by it, and I don’t want to see others stigmatized by it either. It’s an illness. As such, it is no morally worse than diabetes or heart disease, and no more catching.

Thank you, gobear, for doing your job well.

CJ

The OP is dead on.

At every place I’ve worked at, I’ve always tried to be extra-nice to the receptionists. They are the true masters, and it pays to have them on your side.

They’ve got a tough, tough job, and I couldn’t imagine doing it for a whole day without going insane.