Lately I have not been the person I want to be. From the time I was 15 until into my 20s I worked at a retail shoe store and so I am intimately aware of how crappy service jobs can be. Normally I am overly kind to service industry employees, forgiving mistakes, offering to help where I can, always asking how they are doing, saying thank-you, etc. So, what's changed? Well, I am frustrated over my repeated recent dealings with customer service people. It started with an awful experience with the folks at AT&T and has since spread to representatives of three separate insurance companies, the receptionist at my doctor's office and now the receptionist at my dentist's office. I have lost all patience with having to either push buttons through 18 prompts, or worse, talking into a phone to no-one, just to talk to a representative who then just asks me to repeat all the information I just entered. I have lost all patience with listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons, all four seasons worth, while on hold. I have lost all patience with insurance companies denying claims they should cover, paying claims they shouldn't and then expecting me to fix the problems for them. The last time I checked I do not work for the insurance companies and call me crazy but mistakes they make are mistakes they should fix, not me.
When confronted with all these frustrations my reactions of late are less than nice. So, what is the answer? How do you deal with all the constant small frustrations and still remain kind and considerate?
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