It's been a while since I have updated anything here. I have been contemplating the value of posting comments that are laced with venom for people in various professions. On one hand it would be nice to see a level of competence across the counter when I finally decide to go to the professional instead of tackling the job on my own. I am not always aware of the back story about the individual I am dealing with and frankly, I'm not certain it is any business of mine nor should it be. Instead I will revert to a home grown version of psychiatry on the order of Lucy Van Pelt in a Peanuts cartoon sitting under a sign in a homemade booth that reads "Psychiatry five cents".
One show that I try to watch when I get a chance is "My Name Is Earl". It is a show that I feel paints lower income people in a negative light by suggesting that their lives are full of graft and larceny if only to get a buck to improve their miserable lives. The premise for the show is that the main character, Earl has come to the conclusion that his recent string of bad luck is due to Karma acting upon his past deviant behavior. This is also another stereotype of lower income people that I believe is pretentious that they are superstitious and believe in luck more than hard work to get ahead. Why do I critique the show if it is one I like to watch? Maybe because the way I feel it tries to explain why life is so tough for the common worker and maybe even suggest that we all are escapists when it comes to dealing with the burden of the reality of life.
One of the story lines the show follows details how Earl's actions had negatively affected the life of someone else. While this is possible to cause harm to someone and even take away their livelihood, I don't think it is possible to destroy someone to the point they will not recover and make something better of themselves in spite of it unless they make the choice to allow the bad to affect how they will proceed. In fact, this is also something that the show touches on. That is, how the victim rises from the ashes and became better for the adversity they had faced and conquered. Sometimes when Earl reminds the victim of the past offense they fall back into old emotions and attitudes they had long since abandoned and struggle with the problem as if it had just happened.
This leads me to a topic that has made many a motivational speaker rich: How do we put the bad behaviors of the past behind us and create new positive behaviors to replace these old habits. The concept is not limited to motivational speaking but can be translated into most if not all of the self help series of businesses. For instance the philosophy of replacing bad behavior with positive action or taking a proactive approach to solve a personal problem fits neatly in a popular weight loss plan. I am not criticizing the plan I am pointing out how many of our problems we try to deal with are closely related.
One of the motivational programs teach us that in order to solve our bad behavior we need to first find and address the underlying issue to which we are reacting. I think that there is some merit in this line of thinking however, I don't think every situation can be compartmentalized so easily. I think sometimes we are granted excuses for us not to accept the responsibility of our behavior and, like any endomorphic person might wish to claim a medical reason for allowing themselves to be rotund find an excuse for past indiscretions. While there may be a reason for them to have added weight they could claim an excuse that might cripple any chance for a healthy life.
Think of the runner who stumbles and falls during a race. If he chooses to stay down rather than pick himself up and continue the race, he has lost in his mind and therefore, has lost site of the goal he was affixed that brought him this far. If someone allows any excuse to be part of why they allow any situation to dominate their life, that excuse will be able destroy the character of that person turning them into someone with a weakened constitution. That person could then be easily swayed into another excuse and to drift into other destructive habits all justified by one excuse no matter how valid.
So the effort to begin to stop the destructive cycle is going to be met by the same obstacles we first placed in our way in the form of these excuses. When we first make the excuse we hadn't yet developed bodily habits or addictions that are more controlling than mere laziness or complacency. But given time they take root and become entwined into our idea of normalcy where to remove it we think would be too painful an ordeal. Think of a gardener who is given charge of an overgrown garden. In this garden are many trees both for fruit production and ornamental purposes as well as shrubs and plants of all types. There are planter beds overrun with weeds and grass broken down trellis' and deteriorated pathways and so forth. You get the general idea. The gardener sets about pulling weeds and pruning trees. He removes diseased trees and plants young healthy trees. He tills and fertilizes, plants and cultivates the garden until after many months the garden has taken on the shape and design that the gardener had put in his mind for it . But all the toil that the gardener had to do would not have been as difficult had the garden been properly cared for all along. Some of the diseased trees might have been saved, much of the pruning would have been done over time and may have been less severe. The amount of general clean up would have been reduced because the weeds would not have been allowed to take root and would have been easy to pull out while still young and would not have choked out more desirable plants.
How do we begin to prune back our bad habits to make us the person we once were? It may not be possible to see how this could even be accomplished. The best way to begin is to identify a few key behaviors that will keep us from achieving our goal then create a plan to achieve our goal. If we have an addiction that we may need medical assistance to overcome we can not let our success in that area affect our resolve to continue working on other aspects of the plan. On the other hand we can not ignore habits we know are destructive in nature to which we are emotionally attached. We need to be willing to sacrifice our comfort to improve ourselves. But we can't allow disappointment in the lack of progress to slow down our enthusiasm for the plan.
Another popular show on TV focuses on a group of overweight people trying to change their lives and become the "Biggest Loser". Something that is not shown is how these people go through hours a day of intense workout drills and are constantly monitored what they are eating and when. I dare say that anybody put in this situation would lose weight but the success of the individual is not based on the trainers or dietitians but on the individuals own resolve to make it happen. In the interest of sensationalizing the process the contestants go through much of the really difficult work out of view of the camera because it is not as sexy as seeing the results the end of the week's workout. The popularity of the show may be that we are watching others do what we would like ourselves be doing and in someway living vicariously through the contestants struggles. This is yet another escapist behavior that promotes poor habits. I think that if I see it happening to someone else it someway has happened to me also.
So here is the way we break the cycle that keeps us from being the people we think we should be: First break the looking glass of distortion that make us see ourselves through distorted eyes as someone we are not whether the image be good or bad. We first must see clearly and understand our real world situation before we can attempt to improve it. Next we need to set clear, measurable goals attainable but not easy goals. If we don't stretch or struggle we won't be able improve. Remember, for a goal to be effective it has to be measurable so that we can determine our progress and it has to be attainable so that we won't be disheartened when we can't accomplish anything. A lofty goal may be good and attainable but will be more of a detriment if it is not broken down into smaller goals that are more likely to be achieved.
Once we have a goal we need to take inventory of our life. Ask yourself what am I currently capable of doing? What are my strengths and abilities? How can I use these strengths to reach my goal? Next we need to formulate a plan of execution. This plan needs to be flexible, it will change frequently, sometimes daily but the end goal needs to remain the same. Think of the need to shift course while rowing across a lake to correct for wind and current deviations. Changes to the plan need to reflect the ultimate path to the overall goal we have established as our target. As part of the plan it is important to build in milestones that we will recognize by some sort of celebration. we don't need to do something in the public view or maybe it is a goal achieved that could be rewarded by a special outing. For instance giving up smoking could have a reward of going to the dentist and having your teeth whitened or have veneers or bridgework done. It may sound expensive but the benefit from the change in behavior would directly relate to the reward. Besides one of the goals that we set should be to smile more and find more humor in life. If the goal is financial independence or security then a suitable reward might be making a long awaited purchase using cash instead of paying on credit so long as the purchase is in keeping with the ultimate goal of fiscal stability.
Once we are underway we should not stop to look back over our shoulder to see where we have come from but always be looking forward to see where we are going. We can't change our past but we can change our future and we can't improve ourselves if we are constantly worrying about the past. Speaking of rest, this is a component of success but it can also be the millstone that weighs us down. Adequate breaks when needed should be placed so that we don't sacrifice momentum nor be too infrequent that we tear ourselves down without allowing for a chance for recovery. While I have gravitated towards the concept of weight loss and improved health This is just as relevant when applied to any other life changing goal.
Whether it be achieving the elusive educational diploma or to improve our ability to communicate, or whether we hope to achieve a better career, we are only one step away from beginning on the path towards the goal. The only question is:
When are we going to take that first step?
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Monday, March 23, 2009
Do you want Fries with that?
While stopping by a local burger place to get a sandwich I was reminded that the typical counter help is not paid for their stellar intellect. I ordered the special and asked if I had water instead of a soda if it would be any less. Of course this question was beyond the realm of responsibility for this employee. Upon referring the question to the manager I began to learn that the brain trust was not in charge of taking orders or managing the store. What initially was a simple question became a quest for the Holy Grail.
At this point, and after waiting for at least five minutes just to try to place the order, I had decided to retract my question. But it was too late. The entire staff was brought into the conversation. No one was getting any service. sandwiches weren't being made, people waiting at the drive through were leaving due to lack of attention. I became concerned that other customers would realize that I had been the cause of the delay and focus their frustration at me.
After another couple of minutes I shouted out. "Never mind, I'll pay full price for the water". If I thought this would have brought peace to the mayhem I was sadly mistaken. Now, the challenge was to make the original request right. OK, I should have just not asked if I could get a price break for getting water instead of a soda but I am a tightwad and squeeze the life out of every penny.
I decided that any further interruption from me would result in more confusion so I sat quietly while the staff slowly came to a consensus. When I was finally rung up for my order I found that one or more of the employee's had tried to enter what they thought was the correct solution into the cash register. The total bill came to just over $15.00 for a special that was advertised for $3.99. I asked to see the receipt to check why I was being overcharged. I was very nervous to ask the cashier to read back my order fearing a repeat of the earlier conflagration.
I decided that because of the earlier problem I owed it to the other customers to just pay and take what I was given without any further complaint. When My order arrived I checked the receipt to compare against what I was billed. I discovered that I had been charged for 4 combos at full price not the sale price, a credit for the cost of a regular drink had been subtracted 3 times and a fifth combo charged at the special price. What I got was 4 hamburgers, 3 orders of fries and one drink cup. I had more food that I ordered but less than I paid for. I was fighting the urge to ask for the extra sandwich and two more bags of fries and one more drink when I realized that I had been sucked into the vacuum of stupidity that had enveloped the hapless workers.
I decided that it was time to suck it up, hand out the extra food to waiting customers and cut my loses. I handed out three sandwiches and fries and the drink cup since I only wanted water in the first place and sat down to eat my meal. As I finished, a well dressed gentleman walked in and after conferring with the manager,came over to me and introduced himself as the owner (I assume of the franchise since he was definitely a local).
I thought that one of the employees had called him because I had created quite a stir and now I was going to get it from him form disturbing his place of business. As the man began to speak I realized he had recognized the problem the staff had in making basic decisions but decided that keeping them employed would be better than hiring others to do the same job. His reasoning is that these employees are extremely loyal and hard working. And so long as nobody asks for anything not on the menu they are very efficient. This man knew that these employees would not be able to find satisfactory employment in the current state of the economy so replacing them was out of the question.
I apologized for causing the mix up and promised to only order from the menu in the future. The gentleman offer to give me a discount or refund some of the more I had been over charged. But after hearing what his situation was I thought it best to leave it as a contribution to his charitable work he was doing with his employees.
I have made it a point to stop by more frequently and order only simple things from the menu. The cashiers know me very well now and are quick to remind me "No substitutions on the special...period". I have sometime received the wrong order but I will not complain since I know there was a good effort on the part of the staff but still they make mistakes. As I look around the dining area I realize that many of the people who frequent the restaurant are either friends or family members of the employees.
It may not be a money maker but I can just bet the owner of that franchise is earning more than profits. Every time I am confronted with poor service I think about this small fast food restaurant and remember that the person on the other side is doing this job to provide for themselves and family. so long as I can reasonably negotiate my order I have no problems. If they are rude or uncaring I don't raise an issue I instead remind myself that I need to frequent another small place rather than this place of business.
Sometimes we look at others and laugh at what appears to be ineptitude but in fact we are cheapening ourselves and our own character. By being patient and waiting our turn, accepting others mistakes and not trying to confront the smallest of issues, we can minimize the stress in the lives of others who barely have enough coping skills to do work we may feel is beneath us. So rather than looking down our noses at them or scoffing at their lack of understanding, take stock and learn how to make their job a little less troublesome so when they go home at the end of the day they can smile and feel happy they made it through one more day.
At this point, and after waiting for at least five minutes just to try to place the order, I had decided to retract my question. But it was too late. The entire staff was brought into the conversation. No one was getting any service. sandwiches weren't being made, people waiting at the drive through were leaving due to lack of attention. I became concerned that other customers would realize that I had been the cause of the delay and focus their frustration at me.
After another couple of minutes I shouted out. "Never mind, I'll pay full price for the water". If I thought this would have brought peace to the mayhem I was sadly mistaken. Now, the challenge was to make the original request right. OK, I should have just not asked if I could get a price break for getting water instead of a soda but I am a tightwad and squeeze the life out of every penny.
I decided that any further interruption from me would result in more confusion so I sat quietly while the staff slowly came to a consensus. When I was finally rung up for my order I found that one or more of the employee's had tried to enter what they thought was the correct solution into the cash register. The total bill came to just over $15.00 for a special that was advertised for $3.99. I asked to see the receipt to check why I was being overcharged. I was very nervous to ask the cashier to read back my order fearing a repeat of the earlier conflagration.
I decided that because of the earlier problem I owed it to the other customers to just pay and take what I was given without any further complaint. When My order arrived I checked the receipt to compare against what I was billed. I discovered that I had been charged for 4 combos at full price not the sale price, a credit for the cost of a regular drink had been subtracted 3 times and a fifth combo charged at the special price. What I got was 4 hamburgers, 3 orders of fries and one drink cup. I had more food that I ordered but less than I paid for. I was fighting the urge to ask for the extra sandwich and two more bags of fries and one more drink when I realized that I had been sucked into the vacuum of stupidity that had enveloped the hapless workers.
I decided that it was time to suck it up, hand out the extra food to waiting customers and cut my loses. I handed out three sandwiches and fries and the drink cup since I only wanted water in the first place and sat down to eat my meal. As I finished, a well dressed gentleman walked in and after conferring with the manager,came over to me and introduced himself as the owner (I assume of the franchise since he was definitely a local).
I thought that one of the employees had called him because I had created quite a stir and now I was going to get it from him form disturbing his place of business. As the man began to speak I realized he had recognized the problem the staff had in making basic decisions but decided that keeping them employed would be better than hiring others to do the same job. His reasoning is that these employees are extremely loyal and hard working. And so long as nobody asks for anything not on the menu they are very efficient. This man knew that these employees would not be able to find satisfactory employment in the current state of the economy so replacing them was out of the question.
I apologized for causing the mix up and promised to only order from the menu in the future. The gentleman offer to give me a discount or refund some of the more I had been over charged. But after hearing what his situation was I thought it best to leave it as a contribution to his charitable work he was doing with his employees.
I have made it a point to stop by more frequently and order only simple things from the menu. The cashiers know me very well now and are quick to remind me "No substitutions on the special...period". I have sometime received the wrong order but I will not complain since I know there was a good effort on the part of the staff but still they make mistakes. As I look around the dining area I realize that many of the people who frequent the restaurant are either friends or family members of the employees.
It may not be a money maker but I can just bet the owner of that franchise is earning more than profits. Every time I am confronted with poor service I think about this small fast food restaurant and remember that the person on the other side is doing this job to provide for themselves and family. so long as I can reasonably negotiate my order I have no problems. If they are rude or uncaring I don't raise an issue I instead remind myself that I need to frequent another small place rather than this place of business.
Sometimes we look at others and laugh at what appears to be ineptitude but in fact we are cheapening ourselves and our own character. By being patient and waiting our turn, accepting others mistakes and not trying to confront the smallest of issues, we can minimize the stress in the lives of others who barely have enough coping skills to do work we may feel is beneath us. So rather than looking down our noses at them or scoffing at their lack of understanding, take stock and learn how to make their job a little less troublesome so when they go home at the end of the day they can smile and feel happy they made it through one more day.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Can you tell the difference between $0.002 and 0.002¢
There is a question as to whether or not this is an actual call to Verizon wireless regarding charges for use of internet access while in Canada by the author. This is very disturbing to think that this person is actually on the phone and is totally confused about a simple math problem. The problem is more disconcerting with the floor manager becoming as confused as the first responder. I certainly hope they don't get a job working for the IRS.
Monday, November 17, 2008
What's My Line version 2008
This Blog is dedicated to all of the less than competent professionals out there. I hope that you can find this helpful to vent your frustrations and hopefully gain some insight into the mind of the confused over-compensated technically challenged and just plain idiots that plague our existence.
There are the call center workers who rely on a script to make them sound like they know they are talking about until you ask them a question that isn't covered by their FAQ list. suddenly it becomes a challenge to keep them focused on the reason for your call. Just hope they don't panic and hit the disconnect button. Oh well, they are paid for the number of calls they make per hour no matter if they were helpful or not.
Why you may ask would I call a help line if I am smart enough to figure it out for myself, you may ask? Well her is what is known as the rest of the story. I little over a year ago my wife bought a new digital camera from an anonymous office supply depot. We also purchased the extended warranty due to the likelihood that the camera could suffer damage somehow. One evening we were at a band competition and at the moment the camera was needed it failed. I tried everything thinking that maybe the batteries were dead but nothing we tried would make the camera start working again. It just sat there with it's lens sticking out.
When we got home I checked the web site for troubleshooting feeling confident that I could fix this problem. What I discovered was that after the first couple of questions the only solution offered was to call customer service for the purpose returning the camera for repair or replacement. Upon calling the call center I was presented with the same questions the online troubleshooting guide used to determine the camera was inoperable. I accepted this as a means of verifying that the proper path had been followed to arrive at this conclusion however I felt the need to ask for some background information about the company who was providing this service.
What I found is that this office supply company uses a third party company that is wholly responsible for the management of the service contracts. The company is not equipped to repair the merchandise they warranty, rather, they are playing the law of averages. They are figuring that only a small percentage of the merchandise they cover will have any problem at all. some of the high ticket items are sent to a yet another company for repair. This is all a good idea and can be very profitable but what was sold to me was an extended warranty of the original manufacturer's warranty.
I guess it shouldn't matter who it is that helped me since the outcome was I was refunded the money for my wife's camera but somehow I still feel I was duped into thinking that the support center would be technically competent and totally professional. The more questions I asked the more their lack of technical prowess became obvious. I would not feel this is a big deal if they would have been more forthcoming about their true business model. I guess they hide their true purpose to avoid paying out on every claim rather than hoping to discourage a percentage of claims from even being filed.
I fell it is important that technically challenged people aren't being taken advantage of by companies such as this one. It is hard enough to gain the trust of people who only know enough to turn on the monitor and the computer and possibly check to see if the computer is plugged in with out having to deal with these charlatans. I would like to find a reason to raise a voice of complaint but I guess since I received a refund there is nothing I can complain about.
It should still be of interest to all those who are potential customers that if anything were to happen with their merchandise a refund would be the bet they can hope for. Hopefully, armed with this information you may be wiser in your approach in filing a claim.
There are the call center workers who rely on a script to make them sound like they know they are talking about until you ask them a question that isn't covered by their FAQ list. suddenly it becomes a challenge to keep them focused on the reason for your call. Just hope they don't panic and hit the disconnect button. Oh well, they are paid for the number of calls they make per hour no matter if they were helpful or not.
Why you may ask would I call a help line if I am smart enough to figure it out for myself, you may ask? Well her is what is known as the rest of the story. I little over a year ago my wife bought a new digital camera from an anonymous office supply depot. We also purchased the extended warranty due to the likelihood that the camera could suffer damage somehow. One evening we were at a band competition and at the moment the camera was needed it failed. I tried everything thinking that maybe the batteries were dead but nothing we tried would make the camera start working again. It just sat there with it's lens sticking out.
When we got home I checked the web site for troubleshooting feeling confident that I could fix this problem. What I discovered was that after the first couple of questions the only solution offered was to call customer service for the purpose returning the camera for repair or replacement. Upon calling the call center I was presented with the same questions the online troubleshooting guide used to determine the camera was inoperable. I accepted this as a means of verifying that the proper path had been followed to arrive at this conclusion however I felt the need to ask for some background information about the company who was providing this service.
What I found is that this office supply company uses a third party company that is wholly responsible for the management of the service contracts. The company is not equipped to repair the merchandise they warranty, rather, they are playing the law of averages. They are figuring that only a small percentage of the merchandise they cover will have any problem at all. some of the high ticket items are sent to a yet another company for repair. This is all a good idea and can be very profitable but what was sold to me was an extended warranty of the original manufacturer's warranty.
I guess it shouldn't matter who it is that helped me since the outcome was I was refunded the money for my wife's camera but somehow I still feel I was duped into thinking that the support center would be technically competent and totally professional. The more questions I asked the more their lack of technical prowess became obvious. I would not feel this is a big deal if they would have been more forthcoming about their true business model. I guess they hide their true purpose to avoid paying out on every claim rather than hoping to discourage a percentage of claims from even being filed.
I fell it is important that technically challenged people aren't being taken advantage of by companies such as this one. It is hard enough to gain the trust of people who only know enough to turn on the monitor and the computer and possibly check to see if the computer is plugged in with out having to deal with these charlatans. I would like to find a reason to raise a voice of complaint but I guess since I received a refund there is nothing I can complain about.
It should still be of interest to all those who are potential customers that if anything were to happen with their merchandise a refund would be the bet they can hope for. Hopefully, armed with this information you may be wiser in your approach in filing a claim.
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