Gratitude, Day 25

Thank you, Lord, for days like today when I have customers that restore my faith in humanity.  Customers who understand that I'm there to help them and that I will do everything I can to make things work properly for them.  Customers who appreciate that I'm not the queen of the company and that there are rules to which I must adhere.  Customers who are so pleased to have someone actively listen to them and then take action to improve their situations that they want to take action themselves.  (One of my customers wants to send me a Christmas card.)

Most days it's very easy to lose sight of why I do what I do ... when people are cursing me and cussing me and threatening me and yelling directly into my ear (or flushing their toilets in it) ... when people immediately ask to speak to my supervisor without ever giving me an opportunity to assist them (though 98% of the time, I could have taken care of the issue in less time).  Days like today help to bring balance to the chaos that is customer service.

If I may take advantage of the fact that you're still reading this ... When you call in to customer service, whatever company you may be calling, the person to whom you speak is not the one who makes policy decisions.  That person likely doesn't make nearly as much money as the person who does make the policy decisions.  That person, in fact, is your biggest ally in your quest to get something done.  He or she would much prefer to assist you and know they've made a difference for someone than to end up in a contest of wills.  They know you've had to go through an automated menu you don't like.  They know you wouldn't be calling if there wasn't something you wanted to change.  The easiest way for you both to make it through the phone call without anyone being hurt/angered/annoyed is to go into the call with the assumption that the person who answers your call will assist you.  Save being upset for those (hopefully) rare occasions when that doesn't happen.  Don't punish someone for simply answering your call.  You don't want to be that caller any more than the person answering wants you to think of them as that customer service person.

Off my soapbox now. (;

Gratitude, Day 16

Today, I am grateful for the sarcastic silliness of a select few of my coworkers.  If you're reading this, you know who you are. (;

Congratulatory Flowers

I recently (first day was today) was promoted off of the floor at the call center to the position of Quality Monitoring Specialist. A few days ago, when I came in to work, there was a box on my desk. I thought my husband had done something sweet to surprise me. It turns out it was my new supervisor.



The flowers are beautiful, and I took all the colors for the paper, ribbon, and journaling right from them with the eyedropper tool.

My Drive Home

I just happened to have the camera in the car as I was driving home from work, and couldn't help but notice all the beautiful colors and lighting after a rainstorm. I had to capture some of what I saw. I even pulled off the freeway to get pictures of the rainbow.