i can't even remember what i wrote about to come up with a subject line.

[fearlesstemp]

Watch this space: At some point this week, I may change my LJ name. I've been meaning to change it forever, but have been hampered by (a) laziness and (b) lack of creativity re: a new name. Still plagued by both, of course. But something about half of my LJ name being the same as the name as poor little Molly, off chasing baby bunnies in the

Comments

[krabapple]

No, in my professional phone answering experience (which is unhappily pretty extensive, mind you), those people who ask how you are or what your name is, unless they are frequent callers and thus know you and have a right to ask you about your day, are the most crankypants people on the planet.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that those in particular who ask what your name is (or "To whom am I speaking") are the nastiest creatures of all, because in my experience they are making sure to get your name so that if something goes wrong, they can blame it on you to your boss or anyone else who is listening, loudly and verbosely, whether it is actually your fault or not.

Hmmmm . . . not bitter, am I? :)

[fearlesstemp]

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that those in particular who ask what your name is (or "To whom am I speaking") are the nastiest creatures of all, because in my experience they are making sure to get your name so that if something goes wrong, they can blame it on you to your boss or anyone else who is listening, loudly and verbosely, whether it is actually your fault or not.

Yes! This is most definitely true! The ask-your-namers are much more likely than the regular how-are-youers to be totally crankypants (excellent term, by the way). But both seem like trouble when I first get them on the phone.

Also: Love that icon! Bucky!

[lawgeekgurl]

Exactly!

Well, everyone's entitled to an opinion, but yours is WRONG and TERRIBLE and, and, and, WRONG!"
I'm in a non-swing state (although who knows in times to come, as it used to be heavily Republican, and now isn't, and it's right next door to Ohio and Indiana and Iowa, which go Republican) but I saw a bumper sticker on a car that said "Veterans Against John Fonda Kerry" and I wanted to kick the car. And the person. And the placard hanging in it said it was a handicapped person's car, and it's probably a handicapped vet, and I still want to kick them and say that protesting the war doesn't make you a traitor, no matter what war it was! Plus, Vietnam was WRONG! Gah

[fearlesstemp]

I'm in a non-swing state (although who knows in times to come, as it used to be heavily Republican, and now isn't, and it's right next door to Ohio and Indiana and Iowa, which go Republican) but I saw a bumper sticker on a car that said "Veterans Against John Fonda Kerry" and I wanted to kick the car. And the person.

LOL! But I totally understand that reaction -- every time I drive by a Bush sign or see a car with a Bush bumper sticker, I want to pull over and either kick the offending item or ask the person who owns it why on earth they're supporting him. I'd really like to know! I don't get it!

Also, have I mentioned lately how much your family is just like mine? For me, it's my uncle who is a state representative Dem and has been since 1972. (Although in my home state of Indiana, and not Illinois, where I live now.)

That's so cool! And I totally think you should run for his seat. Perhaps you could create a nepotistic political dynasty!

[jeviltwin]

As a lifetime resident of Indiana, tell your uncle thank you from me, would you? We don't really have a shortage of Democrats where I am, in Southern Indiana, but still, the more Dems the merrier. :-)

[lawgeekgurl]

how much do I love your icon. LOVE IT! LOVE!

I will tell him. You're in Southern Indiana? I know DuBois county and Vanderburgh county trend pretty D, right? (I worked for O'Bannon for a bit after I graduated law school and did legislative work, so I got to know a lot of folks - most of whom aren't there anymore, like the current Evansville mayor, and come to think of it, the current mayor of Bloomington - who I swear tried to shoot out my eye with a rubber band on time, but that's a whole other story.)

[fearlesstemp]

You're one of the nice ones! There are nice people who call and ask those questions, of course. But a lot of people seem to call and ask these questions to establish some kind of rapport in the hopes that I'll do something for them that I can't, like get an attorney who's not in the office to speak to him or her on the phone (I've had this happen before, when people call and think an attorney is ducking them and don't believe me when I tell them that no, really, he's not here! I couldn't put him on the phone if I wanted to!). It's probably from working in a law office, when people calling are usually stressed out and annoyed that the person who they want to talk to isn't available Right That Minute.

[meinnim]

Temp Epiphany/Theory of the Day: It seems counterintuitive, but people who say, "How are you?" or "Who am I talking to?" when you answer the phone are far more likely to be demanding and difficult to handle than those who simply say, "[Random Attorney], please."

I've noticed the same thing. People who have time to ask 'How are you doing?' and 'Can I have your name?' usually have time to waste so they blather away. After the blathering comes the demanding and the huffing. 'What do you mean, you can't do it right now?' The ones who say 'so-and-so, please' just want to get things done so they don't waste time with pleasantries.

[fearlesstemp]

I totally thought I had replied to this comment! Maybe only in my head? But in my imagined reply, I had said: Your experience sounds similar to mine. I much prefer the just-getting-business-done types, though usually not because I have so much business to get done myself. Usually it's because I have so much staring into space to get done, or checking my e-mail to get done. :)

[jeviltwin]

I've been working the service end of a stock brokerage's research department for 10 years (!) and I've tried, over this time, to see some pattern in the way people address me on the phone. I would have to say that the worst callers here tend to be people who don't introduce themselves: we don't take calls from the public, so 99.999% of the time, it's a broker or someone else internal, and they may be mean but they're smart enough to know that if we know who is treating us like such shit we will call their manager and raise hell. A decent percentage of mean (and/or helplessly twitty, which is sometimes just as bad) brokers are from our northeast offices -- and I hate playing the regional card, but they're just in a much different environment. I was going to say they're in a more fast-paced world than Louisville, KY; but really, these are simply people who use that theory as an excuse to be jerks. I don't buy that being from NJ automatically makes you evil, yet our brokers are using certain perceptions to their advantage and my

[fearlesstemp]

I love that icon. Love! Bucky!

I would have to say that the worst callers here tend to be people who don't introduce themselves: we don't take calls from the public, so 99.999% of the time, it's a broker or someone else internal, and they may be mean but they're smart enough to know that if we know who is treating us like such shit we will call their manager and raise hell.

I had the same experience when I was working at a job where I fielded a lot of internal calls in addition to the external call load. People were always v. careful to be nice (with one exception -- a woman in the CEO's office who was just plain mean to me a couple of times. I hated her without ever meeting her, and then when I was introduced, realized that she was someone I'd been exchanging pleasant, meaningless conversation with every few days in the cafeteria because we took lunch at the same time. The sense of betrayal I felt!).