“Thank you so very much for being so patient.”
“Oh it’s nothing, I know these things take time.”
“Well, all the same, thanks for being so good about all of this.”
We both steal a glance towards the glass cubicle on my left where another customer is ramping up her complaints to her customer service representative. She is now yelling that he is not listening and that the company should have known many various details of her situation. He appears to be sticking to his company provided script. She appears to be channeling her inner two-year-old.
All I want to do is to open this bank account and get back to work before she fully embraces her tantrum and starts throwing things. The best way for me to do this seems to be to just answer the questions, and not distract my customer service rep with too much small talk.
“Sorry the computer is so slow.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“I can’t thank you enough for your patience.”
“Really, it’s nothing.”
How did we get to this point? How did we arrive at a point where anything less than an instantaneous, perfect response is a cause for rebuke? God knows, my responses are often anything but instantaneous or perfect. Would I want someone launching down my throat for that? Don’t I owe my fellow man the same courtesy? How hard is it to imagine that the other person is trying to do his best? How often am I guilty of this myself?
Too often. All too often.
I sign the papers on the desk and thank my customer service representative. As I walk out of the bank, the penny drops into the slot:
“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…”
It’s a place to start.
Annemarie
The Daily Cup 