remember the "suck it" story?

i kind of lost it at work today with some customers. i don't know why exactly those two people made me mad, out of all the jerks i deal with on a daily basis, they were actually not all that jerky. it was a couple, a father and daughter deal, who came in complaining that they'd had a phone for over a year, it never worked, and they wanted me to replace it. um, okay. why didn't anyone come in when they got the phone to point out that it didn't work? why wait almost a year and a half to come in demanding a new phone? it's not even a phone we sell anymore (anyone who's ever had anything to do with cell phones or cell phone service knows that a year is a hell of a long time in the cellular world. new phones come out all the damn time, and if those phones suck, they don't last very long either.), and how was i to know they weren't yanking my chain? why should i be responsible for a bunch of assclowns who not only bought, but paid for service on, a phone that they claim never-ever-ever worked? if they had come in and been nice about it, if the father hadn't immediately raised his voice to a level that was highly inappropriate indoors, i might have tried to hook them up. but once anyone hits a certain decibel level, i shut all the way down. in the end i kept my tongue and simply said, "i'm not having this conversation anymore. as a customer you have a certain responsibility to deal with phone issues in a timely manner. i've told you what i can and can't do for you, here's my card with my name, call customer care, call my boss, call anyone you want to complain about me. i'm done with this." the pop stuttered and stammered and tried to get in one more jab, but i said, "no, i'm done, you can go now." the daughter chimed in with an "i'm very disappointed that your customer care is awful and you don't want to help us," and i told her the same thing, "done, there's the door."

then of course i had to draft a long-ass email to my boss saying, "hi, i probably should have given them ten more minutes to yell and get really irate before asking them to leave, but something about them seriously irritated me and i just had to end the situation before i acted seriously jerky." he doesn't know about the "suck it" incident, and he doesn't need to. i'd say 89% of the time i'm perfectly fine with customers. i'm infinitely more patient, i'm a hell of a lot more pleasant, and i do indeed keep quiet when i want to shout obscenities, but there are some people who just get me in a soft spot. once they've gone there with me, i can't back down, i can't think straight, i can hardly stop from going all hulk on them and freaking out. the crazy part of me, the part of me that think that no job is worth totally suppressing my dignity (slight as it might be), the part of me that actually told an old lady once she could "shove it up your ass," is always there. loudmouth amanda is right under the surface of good customer service amanda, and while she doesn't come out often, it's only because i try to beat her into submission.

at the end of the day there's a line i won't cross for money, no matter how much i need it. it's petty and immature and ridiculous, seeing as i'm a slacker loser, but it's what i have. my parents hate it about me, and know they raised me like that. it's not that i'm full of my own self-import, it's that i think no one should be treated like shit because someone gives them money, because the rent hangs in the balance and i get tired of peanut butter sandwiches. while i did get a little irrational and shrill this afternoon, i did not tell anyone they could suck it, i didn't not storm out of work, and i did apologize to my boss before he even knew what i was apologizing for. it's a small step in the right direction as far as growing up goes, but it's a step nonetheless.