Phone Battery

I spend a lot of time answering the phone. The first two seconds of a call reveal what kind it will be. Flattery generally means someone wants something from you, likely a salesperson. Rambling means it’s going to be a long call. Background chatter and muffled rustling - a butt dial. But the worst call starts with the phrase, ‘You people’. It normally foretells a snide over generalized and paranoid one sided conversation where the caller emotionally dumps their putrid baggage they’ve been specially fermenting. Just. For. You. Of course you’re never allowed to fight back. You must kindly tell the person on the line that their language is inappropriate and let them know you will be hanging up. That response never sat well with me. I have yet to think of something better.

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Answer

Jul 22, 2022 at 6:43am

When you get a call that you don't like, get an air horn and blast it into the receiver.
Done.

2 1Rating: +1

@OP

Jul 22, 2022 at 8:47am

God Bless you OP. Yah Ali. I understand what you are saying. I worked as a community pharmacist for many years, and I took lots of verbal abuse from angry, ill, unwell, frustrated patients/customers who downloaded/scapegoated me :( we were told by company to not escalate the situation, but to de-escalate. They taught us to always be kind to customers/patients. It was hard, but over time, I realized that when I was meek, humble and took the verbal abuse, and then replied in kindness, many customers/patients called back later on or on another day to apologize to me. Working in customer service must be the most painful job :( I'm so sorry you are going through that. Sometimes/often, I would say to them, 'thanks for your kindness', and it would stop them cold. People who are angry and aggressive want a 'fight'. When we don't give them a fight/argument, but we empathize with them, and say kind words, that instantly defeats their plan to sabotage our day. Our late dad told me, when I was young, to always be kind and to turn the other cheek, no matter the situation. It's not easy, but it's doable. Just Know that there are scapegoating on you, and that they have no personal issue with you. Again, I'm so sorry you have to deal with angry, unfair customers by phone :( I commend you in doing what you are doing. Customer Service jobs are toughest jobs to have on the planet. You are Strong, OP! Bravo! Sending you lots and lots of Agape Love. Be well. Know that God Profoundly Loves you

9 10Rating: -1

Anonymous

Jul 22, 2022 at 11:22am

Wow it doesn't seem many have sympathy for customer service workers by the votes.

4 1Rating: +3

Imagine...

Jul 22, 2022 at 12:19pm

... thinking you get to hang up on a customer because you dictate a standard of "safety." You people are ruining the world. I have never once had an experience like this. I don't believe in Karma, but I imagine that if I did I would say it i sbecause I am not a piece of shit who divides things into "appropriate" and "inappropriate" as though I am God Almighty.

7 3Rating: +4

The insight from your life experiences is...

Jul 22, 2022 at 12:37pm

astounding!

1 1Rating: 0

Bo

Jul 22, 2022 at 3:17pm

Why all the downvotes??? Obviously, they have never worked in customer service.People can be so abusive and it is difficult to deal with this on a daily basis.I have worked with the public in the past and I know how challenging it can be and the last two years has only proved even more stressful for customer service workers.And please don't simply say get another job,it's not always that easy.I feel for you.

11 2Rating: +9

@Bo

Jul 22, 2022 at 6:38pm

"Obviously, they have never worked in customer service."

I have worked in customer service. I have had co-workers and management tell me to 'expect the worst.' It has never happened. People are respectful to me, but my basic view is that people can express themselves however they like; I am being paid to listen. I think most people act like they have some natural right to 'set the standard of discourse,' that is, the price for dealing with them is cession of the lexical domain to their precious feefees. I am not that way.

There are people who if you use the expression "you people" they throw a fit. Those people (you people) are not as useful as you think you are...

10 9Rating: +1

@@Bo

Jul 22, 2022 at 8:02pm

Well, thanks for coming out, Dick Show.

2 1Rating: +1

A special skill

Jul 23, 2022 at 3:52am

I respect people who have mastered the art of communicating with someone who is in a heightened emotional state. In my own careers I have experienced multiple situations in which I’ve had to deal with people who were angry, frustrated, frightened, confused, or grief stricken, or were just generally obnoxious jerks. Sometimes I handled it well, and other times I wasn’t able to handle if effectively because of my own defensive reaction. It takes a special type of person to be able to consistently respond in an effective way to defuse these situations. Mostly, in retrospect, I’ve realized that in almost every case it was my own response to aggression from another person that dictated the outcome. So if I could do it over again I’d try to remember that all most people really want is to be heard, and sometimes they simply don’t have the skills to express themselves appropriately, and that’s not a personal attack on me although it feels like it at the time. I have calmly told someone being very abusive or threatening that I’ll be hanging up if they can’t communicate without threatening or being otherwise abusive, and that they’re welcome to call back when they’re ready to have a respectful conversation. Slamming the phone down or yelling back at them isn’t acceptable, but there are times when someone has a legitimate right to be upset so being able to hear them out is important. Kudos to those who have this skillset.

7 1Rating: +6

Anonymous

Jul 26, 2022 at 3:38pm

Their "you people" might not be at you personally but enough of them are bad at their jobs, and may be the reason why you're receiving frustrated callers, it's become a pattern customers are having to put up. I've been on both sides, from the customer side, service has declined in some businesses to non-existent levels, it seems the onus is being shuffled back to the customer to be accommodating to poorer and poorer service, breadcrumbed by people abusing their positions whose egos are obviously in charge. They barely listen, you can practically hear the eye rolls from the other side, they want to speak over you to get what they want or get rid of you so bad, they can't wait to be done with you. If you're *lucky* you'll get a glimpse at how much worse some can be. I'm curious what job lets you hang up on a customer? I've seen people put up with abuse who never had that option. Maybe some of us are expected to be more resilient on both fronts.

6 1Rating: +5

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