Lithe and luscious lexicons.
Mmm, words.
Recreationally I should read through a thesaurus, at least for the letters R, L, S, T, N, E. That way when I alliterate I can be much smoother about it instead of the clunkier (but fun) sort of result like what I did with the end of yesterday's entry. Instead it might look more like the subject of yesterday's and today's entries. I want my alliteration to be agile and graceful like a gymnast.
That isn't what's really on my mind.
Work is. It's been a really rough week for me. Between the parking thing going on at home (which should now be resolved thankfully) and it feels like the people who have called have just been...tough. The partial government shutdown and concerns about the debt ceiling limit issues didn't help either as they drove the...I want to be nice to them, but it drove the naive sheep out in droves. Those who do believe everything they hear on television.
Not being a people person only makes it more challenging for me. I have a lot of trouble connecting with people and as I've written about before, I have a lot of difficulty with sharing myself with them.
It can be made even more challenging for me when I'm dealing with someone that I've already decided is an idiot (at least concerning the subject at hand) like when they call and say that they heard that "bonds are bad" and want to move money out of them. Especially if they are in a fund like a target-date fund where the investment manager selects the allocation, how much they choose to put in stocks or bonds, etc. It makes me think about gullability. It's also a clear indication that they have no idea how the fund works or what the fund manager does with it. Fund managers pay attention to what's going on in the world and how it impacts the fund. They make changes as necessary. They don't sit around all day twiddling their thumbs waiting for Rome to burn. Or Main Street as it were.
Today...I talked to a couple of people who were just...awful. Two specifically stick in my mind, there might have been a third but I'm trying to forget them all. They stress me out and while on the phone all I wanted was for them to be off the phone.
The first was a woman who was demanding that I have a package sent from the hub it was held at to one closer to her or ship it to her. I looked into the options...there were none, I tried something anyway but it didn't work out. She was...she wouldn't let go of that she couldn't get herself to the hub where it was held. I had no options and I knew it. Unfortunately I forgot about the charade. Don't tell them that up front. Make it sound/look like you are investigating options because it makes them feel better, like you are on their side. After you make it sound like you've looked at all the options and you really did try everything for them tell them no, but try to make that no sound like a yes.
I hate applied psychology on the phones. Seriously. It shouldn't be that difficult. You should know that if I can help you and do what you want I will. On the phones I don't have time to over-think it and put psychology to use.
I dislike the charade. It's dishonest. I get that it makes some people feel better but it's deceptive. I tend to be direct (That's a common INTJ trait) and I don't see the point in playing games. Pretending to look into other options when I know there are exactly zero, or putting you on hold while I "research" is a waste of both our time. Why should I waste my time and your time just so you can feel better about the inevitable truth I have to deliver to you? The facts aren't going to change whether I put you on hold or not.
This was one of those people who didn't understand that if I could do what they were asking I would. If I had any other solution I could have used I would have brought it up and discussed it with her. Maybe she didn't think I sounded like I wanted to help. I'm too subtle for some people, they expect major changes in tone to relay this kind of information and that's not how I am on the phone for work.
Maybe she thought that being pushy and demanding and basically yelling at me would force me to care about her situation (I assure you it does quite the opposite) and to find another way. Yelling at me is very nearly the absolute worst possible thing you could do. Swearing and making it personal would be about the only thing worse. If it was an abusive caller with profanity and all I'd have a course of action but it would still suck to be on the receiving end.
There was someone else, again, who was suppose to receive a package but I didn't have tracking information. It wasn't uncommon, for something like that we don't always have it. I offered to deliver what she needed another way, faxing for example, but that didn't work for her. I tried offering every alternative I could to get her what she needed. She was determined to not let me help her. Which was exceptionally frustrating. She wanted me to get things to her overnight. It wasn't possible for me to do that. She was adamant about not even being able to go somewhere where a fax could be sent.
I offered to re-send and cover the cost (which I would have if she hadn't demanded she not pay for it seconds before I could get the words out) but the timeframe wasn't good enough for her. It was the very fastest I could get it to her short of faxing it. She wanted detailed information about the interaction she had with the last rep that we don't keep. I would have had to have been on the call to know. Which was frustrating for me.
That and she was using some very selective listening skills. I've seen that in action before, my mother was that way in arguments with my father and then she'd use his words against him. (I never liked that, for the record.)
She wasn't listening to what I could do except for just enough to shoot it down. It was her way or the highway. She called us determined to get only one result. It didn't matter whether that goal she had when she called us was actually possible to achieve or not. She was going to yell at me and be abrasive and demand what she wanted until she got it. I very much felt like I was setup for failure the moment I answered.
The third made me late for lunch. I forget what it was now but I remember being very stressed with my hands curled into fists that at times I found myself pounding into the desk quietly but forcefully the longer I was on the phone with the person. Maybe that was the woman I was just talking about. It all kind of ran together.
I just know I was miserable today. I've felt pretty miserable there all week.
This week I feel like at least fifty percent of the people I talk to have been habitual interrupters. GRRRRRRR!
SERIOUSLY.
If you want me to help you what I need is for you to (1) stop talking! (2) When I start talking don't cut me off six words in to an answer or a probing question(s) (3) just because you hear a comma, a colon or semicolon does not mean I am done talking, that's a lead-in to something else important I need to say.
People who cut me off have been bothering me more than usual this week. I think mostly because the people doing it really want help but are having trouble handing over the baton so that someone else can assist them. I've been trying really hard bite my lip (not really) and bide my time.
When they start repeating what they've already said it irritates me. Especially if I started acknowledging it or asking a question to better understand the situation so I can move the conversation forward but they cut me off to give me information they already gave me. When I'm trying to clarify with them and they re-iterate it really drives me crazy. I didn't want the information you already shared. I'm fully aware of that and I'm asking another question because I need detail you left out. Oh, what, you're done talking? If only you'd saved the breath because you didn't tell me what I needed to know. Have a little faith, or trust, I had a question for a good reason. Not because I wasn't listening...or because people around me were talking too loudly. (Hey, I'm on the phone, let me concentrate. Don't try to distract me. I hate that!)
I hate the job. I don't hate it as passionately as I have other jobs but it makes me unhappy. I don't like waking up in the morning or going to work. Work is not providing me with rapture.
It's time for change. Since it would take a lot to do something different within the organization, I'd have to overcome everything I face in my current role and...not being a people pleaser I've struggled with it for as long as I have been on the phones. My boss said something about he could see me in the same role at age fifty if I managed to stay that long.
No. That is not what I want. Continuing to do this for that long would be closer to a lifetime of torture. I'm not okay with it. Why have I even put up with it for this long? I don't know. I think I need to set some clear expectations with my next manager. Like what I want from them as a manager.
Ideally I want an "adult job" this job isn't a real adult job. Adult jobs treat you like an adult. You can go on break when you want, take lunch when you want, you can work at your own pace. Scheduling vacation is flexible and if you need time to get to the doctor or whatnot they'll understand if you need to come in a little later and make up the hours during the week as long as the work is done on time.
What kind of job would I really like?
Anything that focuses on ideas, ideas about the future, improving things, brainstorming. If I could find a gig where I'd go to workplaces, examine the current processes and then make suggestions on how to improve them that'd be cool. Or I think I'd really enjoy being part of a think tank.
I would really enjoy being responsible for designing a better future for all of humanity.
I would love to have the job titles of Futurist or Idea Ninja.
Maybe if I become a writer I'll tell people I'm a plot ninja in disguise, not a writer.
That's a much catchier job title. Plot Ninja In Disguise (Ssh!). The questions I bet it'll lead to at parties...oh yes. Must have.
Maybe I could also go with Time-Traveling Ninja Visionary instead of Futurist (or also known as?).
Recreationally I should read through a thesaurus, at least for the letters R, L, S, T, N, E. That way when I alliterate I can be much smoother about it instead of the clunkier (but fun) sort of result like what I did with the end of yesterday's entry. Instead it might look more like the subject of yesterday's and today's entries. I want my alliteration to be agile and graceful like a gymnast.
That isn't what's really on my mind.
Work is. It's been a really rough week for me. Between the parking thing going on at home (which should now be resolved thankfully) and it feels like the people who have called have just been...tough. The partial government shutdown and concerns about the debt ceiling limit issues didn't help either as they drove the...I want to be nice to them, but it drove the naive sheep out in droves. Those who do believe everything they hear on television.
Not being a people person only makes it more challenging for me. I have a lot of trouble connecting with people and as I've written about before, I have a lot of difficulty with sharing myself with them.
It can be made even more challenging for me when I'm dealing with someone that I've already decided is an idiot (at least concerning the subject at hand) like when they call and say that they heard that "bonds are bad" and want to move money out of them. Especially if they are in a fund like a target-date fund where the investment manager selects the allocation, how much they choose to put in stocks or bonds, etc. It makes me think about gullability. It's also a clear indication that they have no idea how the fund works or what the fund manager does with it. Fund managers pay attention to what's going on in the world and how it impacts the fund. They make changes as necessary. They don't sit around all day twiddling their thumbs waiting for Rome to burn. Or Main Street as it were.
Today...I talked to a couple of people who were just...awful. Two specifically stick in my mind, there might have been a third but I'm trying to forget them all. They stress me out and while on the phone all I wanted was for them to be off the phone.
The first was a woman who was demanding that I have a package sent from the hub it was held at to one closer to her or ship it to her. I looked into the options...there were none, I tried something anyway but it didn't work out. She was...she wouldn't let go of that she couldn't get herself to the hub where it was held. I had no options and I knew it. Unfortunately I forgot about the charade. Don't tell them that up front. Make it sound/look like you are investigating options because it makes them feel better, like you are on their side. After you make it sound like you've looked at all the options and you really did try everything for them tell them no, but try to make that no sound like a yes.
I hate applied psychology on the phones. Seriously. It shouldn't be that difficult. You should know that if I can help you and do what you want I will. On the phones I don't have time to over-think it and put psychology to use.
I dislike the charade. It's dishonest. I get that it makes some people feel better but it's deceptive. I tend to be direct (That's a common INTJ trait) and I don't see the point in playing games. Pretending to look into other options when I know there are exactly zero, or putting you on hold while I "research" is a waste of both our time. Why should I waste my time and your time just so you can feel better about the inevitable truth I have to deliver to you? The facts aren't going to change whether I put you on hold or not.
This was one of those people who didn't understand that if I could do what they were asking I would. If I had any other solution I could have used I would have brought it up and discussed it with her. Maybe she didn't think I sounded like I wanted to help. I'm too subtle for some people, they expect major changes in tone to relay this kind of information and that's not how I am on the phone for work.
Maybe she thought that being pushy and demanding and basically yelling at me would force me to care about her situation (I assure you it does quite the opposite) and to find another way. Yelling at me is very nearly the absolute worst possible thing you could do. Swearing and making it personal would be about the only thing worse. If it was an abusive caller with profanity and all I'd have a course of action but it would still suck to be on the receiving end.
There was someone else, again, who was suppose to receive a package but I didn't have tracking information. It wasn't uncommon, for something like that we don't always have it. I offered to deliver what she needed another way, faxing for example, but that didn't work for her. I tried offering every alternative I could to get her what she needed. She was determined to not let me help her. Which was exceptionally frustrating. She wanted me to get things to her overnight. It wasn't possible for me to do that. She was adamant about not even being able to go somewhere where a fax could be sent.
I offered to re-send and cover the cost (which I would have if she hadn't demanded she not pay for it seconds before I could get the words out) but the timeframe wasn't good enough for her. It was the very fastest I could get it to her short of faxing it. She wanted detailed information about the interaction she had with the last rep that we don't keep. I would have had to have been on the call to know. Which was frustrating for me.
That and she was using some very selective listening skills. I've seen that in action before, my mother was that way in arguments with my father and then she'd use his words against him. (I never liked that, for the record.)
She wasn't listening to what I could do except for just enough to shoot it down. It was her way or the highway. She called us determined to get only one result. It didn't matter whether that goal she had when she called us was actually possible to achieve or not. She was going to yell at me and be abrasive and demand what she wanted until she got it. I very much felt like I was setup for failure the moment I answered.
The third made me late for lunch. I forget what it was now but I remember being very stressed with my hands curled into fists that at times I found myself pounding into the desk quietly but forcefully the longer I was on the phone with the person. Maybe that was the woman I was just talking about. It all kind of ran together.
I just know I was miserable today. I've felt pretty miserable there all week.
This week I feel like at least fifty percent of the people I talk to have been habitual interrupters. GRRRRRRR!
SERIOUSLY.
If you want me to help you what I need is for you to (1) stop talking! (2) When I start talking don't cut me off six words in to an answer or a probing question(s) (3) just because you hear a comma, a colon or semicolon does not mean I am done talking, that's a lead-in to something else important I need to say.
People who cut me off have been bothering me more than usual this week. I think mostly because the people doing it really want help but are having trouble handing over the baton so that someone else can assist them. I've been trying really hard bite my lip (not really) and bide my time.
When they start repeating what they've already said it irritates me. Especially if I started acknowledging it or asking a question to better understand the situation so I can move the conversation forward but they cut me off to give me information they already gave me. When I'm trying to clarify with them and they re-iterate it really drives me crazy. I didn't want the information you already shared. I'm fully aware of that and I'm asking another question because I need detail you left out. Oh, what, you're done talking? If only you'd saved the breath because you didn't tell me what I needed to know. Have a little faith, or trust, I had a question for a good reason. Not because I wasn't listening...or because people around me were talking too loudly. (Hey, I'm on the phone, let me concentrate. Don't try to distract me. I hate that!)
I hate the job. I don't hate it as passionately as I have other jobs but it makes me unhappy. I don't like waking up in the morning or going to work. Work is not providing me with rapture.
It's time for change. Since it would take a lot to do something different within the organization, I'd have to overcome everything I face in my current role and...not being a people pleaser I've struggled with it for as long as I have been on the phones. My boss said something about he could see me in the same role at age fifty if I managed to stay that long.
No. That is not what I want. Continuing to do this for that long would be closer to a lifetime of torture. I'm not okay with it. Why have I even put up with it for this long? I don't know. I think I need to set some clear expectations with my next manager. Like what I want from them as a manager.
Ideally I want an "adult job" this job isn't a real adult job. Adult jobs treat you like an adult. You can go on break when you want, take lunch when you want, you can work at your own pace. Scheduling vacation is flexible and if you need time to get to the doctor or whatnot they'll understand if you need to come in a little later and make up the hours during the week as long as the work is done on time.
What kind of job would I really like?
Anything that focuses on ideas, ideas about the future, improving things, brainstorming. If I could find a gig where I'd go to workplaces, examine the current processes and then make suggestions on how to improve them that'd be cool. Or I think I'd really enjoy being part of a think tank.
I would really enjoy being responsible for designing a better future for all of humanity.
I would love to have the job titles of Futurist or Idea Ninja.
Maybe if I become a writer I'll tell people I'm a plot ninja in disguise, not a writer.
That's a much catchier job title. Plot Ninja In Disguise (Ssh!). The questions I bet it'll lead to at parties...oh yes. Must have.
Maybe I could also go with Time-Traveling Ninja Visionary instead of Futurist (or also known as?).