Suicide Blonde

Friday, April 28, 2006

Why is everyone so rude?

It's friday, and I should be joyfully looking forward to Happy Hour and then the weekend, so this subject is kind of strange for today. But what is going on? Why are people so darn rude?

If I call somewhere for a question or for (God forbid) "customer service" first I can't connect with a live person. I get someone's recording or (worse) one of those self-service phone message circuits in which they toy with you while having you punch in your social security number, date of birth, account number (which you wrote down on a sticky eons ago and presently the sticky is lying in the bottom of one of your summer purses that you have not used since last year), then after that you get to pick among five choices, none of which apply to you, so you hit zero in the hopes that maybe that will get you to the operator, but it doesn't... ok, enough, you get my drift. So essentially that company has just told you by their lack of caring to go frig yourself (notice that I'm keeping my blog clean for now, there is only one "damn" in the whole thing, pretty good).

Then if by chance you hit a sequence of numbers that the phone computer can't figure out what to do with and a live person comes on the phone with a voice that seems like they just woke up from a nap, they usually can't help you, you need a pin, you need the correct account number (where did I put that purse?), they can't DO what your silly, whiny, insignificant self is asking for, and you have basically mistaken them for someone who gives a darn.

And this happens not only with businesses but also with people in general. I work on a university campus. I cross paths with people all the time, some of them will not even look at you to say "hello," even though you have talked to them countless times and they know who you are and they know you know who they are... this gets so complicated.
I can also say that also in my dealings as the customer service provider, I come across people who do not how to say "Good Afternoon" or "Please" or "Thank you," people who I'm trying to help with a problem and I'm treating politely and nevertheless they call me "sweetheart" (As in "No, sweetheart, I'm not an admitted student"). I really hate that. I never, EVER, call anyone sweetheart or anything like that. It's rude, it's not polite, it's not professional.

Another item that bothers me: People who are talking on their cell phones or with another person and they think no one hears their moronic, inane, and frankly boring, conversations. Please speak quietly in public places, no one wants to hear the conversation you are having, the breakup with your boyfriend, what you had for lunch, etc. Hint for rude people: Guess what, folks, profanity is rude! If I'm talking to a good friend, or on the phone where no one hears me, or at home, or talking privately on the cell phone, I'm the first to interject certain words that make the conversation, shall we say "flavorful." But I hate it when I have to hear other people using these words in front of me. I don't subject anyone to my profanity and neither should you.

Also, people, parking spaces are not important in the scheme of things. Think about it. If you weasel into someone's parking space that they were patiently waiting for before you rounded the corner, let them park there. Ok, so you're going to have to park a little farther away, so what? Another thing, if you are driving behind a blue hair (what we yanks call senior citizens) going 15 mph, don't honk, don't behave like an ass (I mean ass in the sense of donkey), remember that person is a grandmother or grandfather or maybe he/she was single and didn't have kids or grandkids but we have to value older people (I swear I would never call them blue hairs to their faces) and we do have to respect others regardless of age, sex, gender, religion, etc.

Ok, whew! That felt good. I'm ready for Happy Hour! Or as we call it in my age group (glorious fifty-somethings): "Content Hour." Besitos, everyone!!!




3 Comments:

At 4/29/2006 6:42 AM, Blogger Richard said...

Call centres! No! I have to agree with you - the worst ones I've found are the ones staffed by Americans. Indian ones you can generally confuse enough to get some kind of satisfaction from, and they have usually had crash courses in English culture but heaven forbid one should get a Yank. They are generally humourless and never deviate away from the script. Despite us feeding them relentless re-runs of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers for the best part of two generations they have no concept whatsoever of anything approaching irony. It's such a strange development from a country that used to pride itself on its customer service.

Done.

 
At 4/30/2006 4:40 AM, Blogger tom909 said...

C. I pretty much agree with you on most of that, but you are getting far too worked up here and not really letting rip to to go with it. I actually like swearing, a lot. It just gives me that little extra edge that I need now and again. See, your post would have had much more power if you'd allowed yourself to really let rip at the b******, and told them all to f*** off etc.etc. (note, use of stars to preserve this profanity free blog).

 
At 5/01/2006 9:32 AM, Blogger Carmenzta said...

Richard, Here in the US you will never be hired as call center staff if you show any hint of a sense of humor or a conscience. That's just the screening process. Training makes you into a bigger, more solid block of non-feeling bastard material that enforces what someone else has set up as "The Rules."
Tom, I wanted to be "polite" at least on my blog. I use expletives all day in my real life.

 

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