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Oh, what fun...
Jan. 19th, 2001 06:13 amIn the years since I worked for a travel agency as a company representative, I've forgotten just what range of interactions one can have when dealing with members of the public. For some reason, it is the jerks who tend to stand out the most.
I think it was that experience as a company rep (in Moscow, no less) that helped me develop something of a tougher hide to withstand the slings and arrows of outrageous people. I still remember one fellow who came to me in the lobby of the Intourist hotel to complain about the closure of Lenin's mausoleum.
The tomb, you see, was closed for "renovations" by the Soviets periodically. What there was to "renovate" is open to speculation, since the entire structure is made of marble. Conventional wisdom indicated that the corpse - which was a sort of holy relic of the Soviet regime - had to be, um, reprocessed from time to time to keep it looking presentable.
At any rate, this fellow starts to carry on about how the only reason he and his wife had signed up for the trip was to visit Lenin's tomb, and wouldn't I be a nice fellow and call someone to have it opened up for our tour group?
I recall thinking - to myself of course - "Sure, I'll just pick up the phone here that connects me directly to the Kremlin and dial my buddy the Prime Minister." In actuality, I don't remember how I dealt with the situation, but that's not really important.
What is important in such situations, I have learned, is to put yourself in the dummy's shoes and try to see the situation through his or her eyes. At the very least, it helps you to explain and dismiss deliberate rudeness, insulting behavior, and general idiocy.
I've run across a lot of nice people over the past couple of weeks, but there have been a couple of jerks, too.
One lady came in and made imperious demands of us - demanding all sorts of freebies - because FedEx had misdelivered her letter. She was pretty rude, but from her perspective, there is no difference between Federal Express and us (she dropped off the letter at the store), and I suppose I might be tempted to act a bit miffed with FedEx if they had mishandled a package of mine. Result: I blew off her remarks and ate the cost of a few copies.
Another customer came in yesterday with a bunch of packages, asking to send them via U.S. mail, insured. When I pointed out that she could send the packages for a lot less via UPS, her response was, "Oh, that's okay, the customer is paying for shipping." Ye gods.
At any rate, I still don't have a good handle on the activities at the store. Yesterday, I introduced a kind of "master" action item list, which is intended to allow the store staff to capture inquiries, to-do items, and complaints for further action. There were still some rough edges left on the process at the end of the first day, but that's only to be expected. Eventually, this list - which is maintained on paper right now - will be replaced by a terminal connected to a Linux server.
The eventual point is to free my time enough so that I can pursue activities that go past immediate firefighting. If that doesn't happen, we'll be fighting fires forever.
Time to get ready for another day.
Cheers...
I think it was that experience as a company rep (in Moscow, no less) that helped me develop something of a tougher hide to withstand the slings and arrows of outrageous people. I still remember one fellow who came to me in the lobby of the Intourist hotel to complain about the closure of Lenin's mausoleum.
The tomb, you see, was closed for "renovations" by the Soviets periodically. What there was to "renovate" is open to speculation, since the entire structure is made of marble. Conventional wisdom indicated that the corpse - which was a sort of holy relic of the Soviet regime - had to be, um, reprocessed from time to time to keep it looking presentable.
At any rate, this fellow starts to carry on about how the only reason he and his wife had signed up for the trip was to visit Lenin's tomb, and wouldn't I be a nice fellow and call someone to have it opened up for our tour group?
I recall thinking - to myself of course - "Sure, I'll just pick up the phone here that connects me directly to the Kremlin and dial my buddy the Prime Minister." In actuality, I don't remember how I dealt with the situation, but that's not really important.
What is important in such situations, I have learned, is to put yourself in the dummy's shoes and try to see the situation through his or her eyes. At the very least, it helps you to explain and dismiss deliberate rudeness, insulting behavior, and general idiocy.
I've run across a lot of nice people over the past couple of weeks, but there have been a couple of jerks, too.
One lady came in and made imperious demands of us - demanding all sorts of freebies - because FedEx had misdelivered her letter. She was pretty rude, but from her perspective, there is no difference between Federal Express and us (she dropped off the letter at the store), and I suppose I might be tempted to act a bit miffed with FedEx if they had mishandled a package of mine. Result: I blew off her remarks and ate the cost of a few copies.
Another customer came in yesterday with a bunch of packages, asking to send them via U.S. mail, insured. When I pointed out that she could send the packages for a lot less via UPS, her response was, "Oh, that's okay, the customer is paying for shipping." Ye gods.
At any rate, I still don't have a good handle on the activities at the store. Yesterday, I introduced a kind of "master" action item list, which is intended to allow the store staff to capture inquiries, to-do items, and complaints for further action. There were still some rough edges left on the process at the end of the first day, but that's only to be expected. Eventually, this list - which is maintained on paper right now - will be replaced by a terminal connected to a Linux server.
The eventual point is to free my time enough so that I can pursue activities that go past immediate firefighting. If that doesn't happen, we'll be fighting fires forever.
Time to get ready for another day.
Cheers...
