So there's a thing I've been thinking about.
The inciting incident for this post is in fact the Juan Williams firing and the reaction thereto, but that's not actually what I want to talk about.
What I want to talk about is the various ways in which people abuse those folks who work an utterly thankless job, namely customer service.
Now. I am perfectly down with people disagreeing with any organization's actions and policies, and I am also perfectly down with them expressing that to the organization. But here are some things that happened to NPR's audience services staff today, in response to NPR firing Juan Williams.
(Please Note: I do not want to talk about whether NPR was right to fire him. At all. There are eight million versions of that shit-filled can of worms elsewhere on the Internet. Discuss it there.)
--women staffers repeatedly being called "stupid bitch" by hundreds of callers
--women staffers repeatedly being called "cunt"
--death threats levied against NPR staffers
--people showing up and getting in physical tussles with security because security wouldn't let them in to get in physical tussles with other NPR staff
--statements of "it's not racist to hate Muslims, and you're racist for saying it is"
--"You make me sick"
--"Since I am a taxpayer you work for me and I will cancel your funding**"
--"News companies should not be run by women"
--"You are a racist"
--"I hate you"
--"You are stupid"
**Actually not true; go check out NPR's financials, they're right on the website.
Here are some things that were said to me when I worked customer service:
--"I'll see that you go to jail, and I'll make sure the guards know you're such a friendly and helpful girl."
--"You better hope nobody shows up to hurt you for being so damn helpful. Where's your office located again?"
--"I will personally see you burn in hell, you little bitch."
--"Well when I die alone and penniless in a gutter because YOU are so heartless I will make sure that God knows it's YOUR fault."
--"Oh, do you actually speak English? Because that last immigrant bitch had too strong an accent."
--"What colour are your panties?"***
***No, really, I'm not joking.
....Seriously.
In what world is it appropriate to levy rape threats and death threats against the customer service person on the phone?
This one, apparently!
So I suppose what I'm hoping for discussion on is: how the fuck did we get to the point where this kind of speech is acceptable, and expected, when dealing with customer service employees? Because I really hope someone can explain this to me, so I can start explaining why this isn't okay.
What I want to talk about is the various ways in which people abuse those folks who work an utterly thankless job, namely customer service.
Now. I am perfectly down with people disagreeing with any organization's actions and policies, and I am also perfectly down with them expressing that to the organization. But here are some things that happened to NPR's audience services staff today, in response to NPR firing Juan Williams.
(Please Note: I do not want to talk about whether NPR was right to fire him. At all. There are eight million versions of that shit-filled can of worms elsewhere on the Internet. Discuss it there.)
--women staffers repeatedly being called "stupid bitch" by hundreds of callers
--women staffers repeatedly being called "cunt"
--death threats levied against NPR staffers
--people showing up and getting in physical tussles with security because security wouldn't let them in to get in physical tussles with other NPR staff
--statements of "it's not racist to hate Muslims, and you're racist for saying it is"
--"You make me sick"
--"Since I am a taxpayer you work for me and I will cancel your funding**"
--"News companies should not be run by women"
--"You are a racist"
--"I hate you"
--"You are stupid"
**Actually not true; go check out NPR's financials, they're right on the website.
Here are some things that were said to me when I worked customer service:
--"I'll see that you go to jail, and I'll make sure the guards know you're such a friendly and helpful girl."
--"You better hope nobody shows up to hurt you for being so damn helpful. Where's your office located again?"
--"I will personally see you burn in hell, you little bitch."
--"Well when I die alone and penniless in a gutter because YOU are so heartless I will make sure that God knows it's YOUR fault."
--"Oh, do you actually speak English? Because that last immigrant bitch had too strong an accent."
--"What colour are your panties?"***
***No, really, I'm not joking.
....Seriously.
In what world is it appropriate to levy rape threats and death threats against the customer service person on the phone?
This one, apparently!
So I suppose what I'm hoping for discussion on is: how the fuck did we get to the point where this kind of speech is acceptable, and expected, when dealing with customer service employees? Because I really hope someone can explain this to me, so I can start explaining why this isn't okay.