I'm the thinker and the fisherman, and I'm trying to remember when...
Hmmm... I've had a good day today, and yet I find myself sitting here stewing a bit all of the sudden. I want to say it's just a fleeting dissatisfaction, largely with my job, but I'm not sure that's all it is.
I've been pretty spot on all day today. Everything's gone smoothly, I was totally on top of everything for my class this morning and even managed to shine when I got put on the spot for a major project. I was bang on at work, too. Even the really, really, really angry customer didn't phase me. I had him in hand from word one, and afte an hour of talking and working with him, he was reassured, reasonable, and the matter was settled.
I want to say I feel unerappreciated for what I did for him. I ended up sticking my own neck on the line and making a call on his situation which was well outside my authority. And I did this because I sincerely felt that this guy had received a bad rap from the manufacturer of his computer and from the campus computer repair center, and I wanted him to leave our store with a better experience than any of them had given him. He was extremely frustrating to me, but for all the right reasons: he knew what he wanted and his wants were not wholly unreasonable, and he wasn't willing to compromise, which is his prerogative. And like I said, ultimately I did something outside my jurisdiction to see to it that it got taken care of.
I want to say it was unappreciated, but the truth is that unhappy as he was, he did appreciate it, and he shook my hand as he left, and my staff all made good fun of how I handled that guy, and even my former boss (who's job I took, and who--though he has many flaws--I respect a great deal in the area of customer service) told me he thought I'd made absolutely the right decision and had handled it perfectly. So I am appreciated. Maybe moreso than I deserve.
And yet something still doesn't sit right with me about it.
Maybe it's just the larger injustice of the situation. The fact that everyone else screwed this guy over, so it's the nice guy, the only one that really can't afford to lose in this situation, that ends up losing. And tomorrow morning I have to get up and fight with our rep at the company to take this computer back from us because we fucking did the right thing. And who's gonna stand up for us? Or for me? And in the end, who will care?
I got home from all this and saw an email from the head of the University's "Transition Team" updating everyone on how things are going with the transition of my department. That's when it really hit me how dissatisfied I felt. How infuriating all this is. That my store is stuck in this limbo as a tiny speck of a division in this University that would rather see us eradicated than give us any support despite the fact that the people working there are some of the most sincere, honest, well-intentioned, service-oriented people in the whole administration. I cannot tell you how strongly I believe in being of true service to people, in whatever capacity it may be. And in our capacity, we try so hard to do such a fantastic job. And yet we're at the very bottom of the food chain, and one little mistake, maybe not even one made by us, results in everyone turning against us.
Some days it's just incredibly frustrating to be a part of something like that.
I want to do good in this world. I just haven't figured out where yet. And I'm blessed to be capable of nearly anything I set my mind to, but it places the burden of choice squarely on me.
All I'm left with is a bitter taste and fading thoughts on ethics and self-inquiry.
I've been pretty spot on all day today. Everything's gone smoothly, I was totally on top of everything for my class this morning and even managed to shine when I got put on the spot for a major project. I was bang on at work, too. Even the really, really, really angry customer didn't phase me. I had him in hand from word one, and afte an hour of talking and working with him, he was reassured, reasonable, and the matter was settled.
I want to say I feel unerappreciated for what I did for him. I ended up sticking my own neck on the line and making a call on his situation which was well outside my authority. And I did this because I sincerely felt that this guy had received a bad rap from the manufacturer of his computer and from the campus computer repair center, and I wanted him to leave our store with a better experience than any of them had given him. He was extremely frustrating to me, but for all the right reasons: he knew what he wanted and his wants were not wholly unreasonable, and he wasn't willing to compromise, which is his prerogative. And like I said, ultimately I did something outside my jurisdiction to see to it that it got taken care of.
I want to say it was unappreciated, but the truth is that unhappy as he was, he did appreciate it, and he shook my hand as he left, and my staff all made good fun of how I handled that guy, and even my former boss (who's job I took, and who--though he has many flaws--I respect a great deal in the area of customer service) told me he thought I'd made absolutely the right decision and had handled it perfectly. So I am appreciated. Maybe moreso than I deserve.
And yet something still doesn't sit right with me about it.
Maybe it's just the larger injustice of the situation. The fact that everyone else screwed this guy over, so it's the nice guy, the only one that really can't afford to lose in this situation, that ends up losing. And tomorrow morning I have to get up and fight with our rep at the company to take this computer back from us because we fucking did the right thing. And who's gonna stand up for us? Or for me? And in the end, who will care?
I got home from all this and saw an email from the head of the University's "Transition Team" updating everyone on how things are going with the transition of my department. That's when it really hit me how dissatisfied I felt. How infuriating all this is. That my store is stuck in this limbo as a tiny speck of a division in this University that would rather see us eradicated than give us any support despite the fact that the people working there are some of the most sincere, honest, well-intentioned, service-oriented people in the whole administration. I cannot tell you how strongly I believe in being of true service to people, in whatever capacity it may be. And in our capacity, we try so hard to do such a fantastic job. And yet we're at the very bottom of the food chain, and one little mistake, maybe not even one made by us, results in everyone turning against us.
Some days it's just incredibly frustrating to be a part of something like that.
I want to do good in this world. I just haven't figured out where yet. And I'm blessed to be capable of nearly anything I set my mind to, but it places the burden of choice squarely on me.
All I'm left with is a bitter taste and fading thoughts on ethics and self-inquiry.