A Day in the life.......

Thank you for calling XXXX my name is Debbie. How may i help you.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Spock said "Captain, that is illogical"

Now, i don't claim to be the most logical person, I am a women after all and we all know that us women can change our minds rather quickly. What is logical to myself may not be logical to you. I am right handed and prefer certain things to be set up a specific way on my desk. Others, are left handed and likes things a different way.
Some people take pictures of every detail while they are on vacation so they have something to look back at and say "see this was my vacation". Me, my pictures are all in my head. I can see them any time i want all i have to do is just close my eyes and i can see that water fall on Route 1 in Massachusetts on a clear, cold day in December with the sun glinting off the ice covered water and the sparkles coming off of everything is breathtaking. Different strokes for different folks as my momma would say.

Women wear excruciatingly high heels and then when they get home complain about how their feet hurt. They squeeze themselves into clothes that on the best of days are at least 1 size too small and wonder why they have body parts screaming at them at the end of a busy day. Size 2 isn't everybodies idea of perfect and just being who you are and the shape you are is okay. I prefer to wear clothes that "fit" there is enough room so that when i eat lunch, i have room for my stomach to expand without causing pain around my middle because i am now being cut in half because i ate a mini size can of beefaroni and some peaches. When it comes to appearance women do the most illogical things to look good to others and to feel good about themselves.
We live in a time when everyone is trying to be eco-friendly but in most businesses we print out more documents than we need. We have vending machines that sell drinks in plastic but don't recycle. We pack 100's of people in a building and wonder why they get sick and stay sick because we don't clean the air filters, freeze them in the summer time because the coolers are set to 60 degrees and they need blankets to sit at a computer and take calls all day. Then in the winter time, we turn the heat on to 75 but don't regulate it properly through out the buildings to ensure it is evenly distributed.

We have cell phones that do so many different things that we text the person sitting next to us to say hi or send an AIM to ask a question rather then get up from the desk and take the 5 steps to the next desk to ask a question. What happened to our ability to carry on a conversation with someone that doesn't involve a slur, epitath or a put down of someone else. What happened to the ability to walk up to some one with a smile and say hi how are you and not get a "what do you want" response. We are raising a generation that has forgotten the english language and how to use it in the proper manner. But we wonder what is happening to our society as a whole.

When dealing with businesses, it is usually all about the bottom dollar and again, i may not be the most logical individual but i like most americans understand that if something is going to cost money and i can do something else that will cost less money "logic" would say to look at it and see if in the long run the money i save is going to be better for my business. Now i also understand that money alone shouldn't dictate the decisions that are made. I like to think of it as the want vs need theory. Businesses like call centers are really good at it. People have needs like food, water, clothing etc. They also have wants like the really good clothes, the good food like steaks and lobster and the better TV's etc. Businesses are no different. They want to make a profit, get their name out in their chosen field of expertise and to retain employees who help them reach these and may other goals. They want to do it as cheaply as possible.
Call Centers are constantly changing and evolving. It is just the nature of the business. As third party vendors, they have to provide the best possible services to their clients and they are at the mercy of their clients. Some clients are back seat drivers and others are content for the most part to sit back and let the experts do their jobs. And sometimes the clients pull programs with no notice and employees can be out of jobs in the time it takes to have a short phone call. There is nothing logical about call center business that i have been able to find. It's not about wearing the right shirt, or saying the right thing at the right moment. Things change in call centers like the weather in Seattle Washington, blink and it changes from sunny and warm to cold and rainy. One minute the answer to why something is happening is because monitarily it makes sense and then the next time you ask the same question it is because of the moral of the employees and we want to keep them happy. One month you are letting attrition take it's course and the next, your telling employee's that while you were going to let them go, you are now going to give them another chance. Mr. Spock would not like this Enterprise as there is no logic to be found in call centers.

1 comment: