In my shiny new job, I get to take telephone calls from people all over the U.S. I have, in the past three weeks, learned to distinguish four separate accents in what I used to think of as “Southern”, dealt with voices that I can recognize as having originated on four continents, and rendered assistance to people of technological savvy ranging from “You bang the rocks together to get the seeds for the fire, right?” through to those who apparently invented the stuff I’m working with in their spare time when they were toddlers.
Rap producers, drunk men who propositioned me, nursing home residents, lonely people who just wanted someone to talk to, the mentally ill, and those who were outraged that they had gotten exactly what they asked for, it all rolled off my back. I’m there to help, I’m there until my shift is over, and I’m perfectly willing to do whatever I can to make the customers happy. My manner remains professional, soft spoken, and kind, even when I’m explaining for the 16th time exactly what buttons to push or how the fact that you ordered the product and have used it for a year means that yes, you really do have to pay for it. Even when they hate the message, they almost always wind up loving the messenger.
Last night I had twelve callers in a row from Brooklyn.
I don’t want to add to any stereotypes. I’ve got no beef with the region, or the city. New Jersey, Staten Island, Manhattan, Queens, I’ve taken multiple calls from all of those and never had more than an isolated problem.
After I got off the phone with the Brooklyn marathon, I had the beginings of a migraine and a strong urge to put my fist through a wall.
People of Brooklyn, nice does not mean weak. Yelling does not make your argument any better, nor are physical threats going to move someone who lives a couple of thousand miles away in an undisclosed location. Your demands will not reach some magical number and suddenly be granted despite company policy and common sense, and whatever you may think electricity and radio waves are subject to laws far more powerful than your whim, or even those manipulated by your cousin the famous attorney.
