I wanted to take a moment and thank almost every single person who posted
on the Imus situation on PFB for your civility and grace. To be completely
honest, when Imus first made his now infamous comment, I was truly,
honestly, deeply hurt. As a black woman with what I consider wonderfully
nappy hair (I wear dreadlocks), it hurt me that my "crowning" feature, if
you will, could be spat out of a white man's mouth as if he were describing
a particularly vile pile of dog feces, and so easily connected to being a
"ho." It also hurt because if these young ladies could be so easily (and
worse, publicly) ridiculed and dismissed for their looks, where does that
leave me and my two daughters? How do I know my employer or students of
tomorrow aren't the very ones laughing it up with Imus over those funny
looking nappy-headed hos today? I felt the need to get my disgust over this
situation off my chest, preferably with those who could provide a different
viewpoint, without the conversation being reduced to name-calling and
childishness. There's been enough of that already.

So thank you guys for providing me with an opportunity to do that. Such
classy, productive conversation is rarely found online. As for my hurt, I'm
over it. One of my husband's co-workers (black) took a call from an irate
customer yesterday who, just to hurt her, called her a nappy-headed ho. She
stepped away from her desk, and she cried. My husband (always the realist)
showed her no pity. He told her this is exactly what the guy wanted her to
do, and by giving him the privilege of and power to hurt her so deeply, she
was playing right into his hands. He's absolutely right. And so I here and
now, officially and proudly declare myself a nappy-headed ho. I call
myself this not because I am but because if that's how my sisters are seen,
if that is the insult hurled at them, I choose to take it as well. I shared
their hurt, and now I, like them, choose cast it off and walker straighter
and stronger for it.

And so, Imus, I say to you, in the long ago words of a great and wise black
woman: Yo mama.

I soooo miss this site. Ever since I started grad school, I have
absolutely no time for it. I miss this site and lazylaces.com. And
ebaumsworld.com. And every other site I used to hang out at. Well, that's
it. Nice skimming the latest debates. Talk to you again in a month.

Well, I've worked my last day of customer service. Well, maybe I shouldn't
be so hasty, you never know when finances will dictate a second job.

As of Friday, I have been laid off/quit. A little of both. First they told
me I was laid off, then they told me they had room for me and asked if I'd
like to stay. I couldn't - the university I'm beginning at Monday said I
cannot hold outside jobs without their permission, since in addition to my
grad studies I'll be teaching a class. So I politely turned them down.

After around ten years of customer service, I must say it's had its ups and
downs. There's nothing like finding an answer for a truly distraught
consumer, particularly when its an answer you had to work for, and hearing
the gratitude in that customers voice when you provide them with a
solution. On the flip side, I've been told to "go to hell" because a
customer couldn't find her favorite soap and to "put a f***ing supervisor
on the phone" by a customer to whom I hadn't said much more than "hello."
Ups and downs like any job. I'll remember the ups fondly, and laugh at the
downs.

So I'm off to begin a new career shaping the impressionable minds of
America's youth *insert evil cackle here*. But the next time you pick up
your phone to call customer service, or approach the customer service desk
at the store, remember me and be kind. We are the front lines, we proudly
weather the abuse (some of it justified) prompted by policies we don't
establish concerning products or services we don't design, but we do it not
just for the pay (which, with the exception of my last job, I never
considered impressive) but for the satisfaction of representing our
companies and respresenting them well. Sometimes we're worn raw from the
weathering, but trust me folks, most of us care.

Best of luck to the co-workers I've left behind and all my peeps in the csr
business. Keep your head up, do your best, and may you always keep those
customers in mind who make it all worth it.

...can't stop playing...Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories...need
sleep...but must complete the missions...everything's dark....

And to think Final Fantasy XII is coming out in October. I'm doomed.

...without the contact. I no longer consider myself a newbie, as I've been
here a couple of months. In those months I've witnessed newbies venture
forward with questionable complaints, and PFB veterans respond, sometimes
constructively, sometimes scathingly. Then the newbie attempts to silence
them with their newbie wit. Big mistake. The PFB veterans deftly exact a
few crushing blows that bring the poor newbie to his/her knees (i.e. "I
could cry with frustration," "Why are you people so rude?" etc).

So, I have decided to do my part to help those newbies who insist on
becoming combatitive (or posting inane letters) come in swinging. Below are
a list of rebuttals that are sure to be effective against the most
devastating onslaught.

1. Get a life, loser.
2. Why don't you find something to do other than posting rude comments on a
message board? (ineffective after your 20th post)
3. Why don't you learn to spell? (there must be an actual spelling error,
and you must quote it for full effect)
4. I hope your children don't grow up with your attitude. (Low blow,
prepare for full combat)
5. I don't know you, why do I care what you think? (this WILL be followed
by a reminder that you chose to share your letter, so be prepared to
pretend you didn't know you did)
6. STFU
7. ROTFL
8. LMAO
9. ROTFLMAO
and my personal favorite...
10. Whatever.

Remember, if you survive this intial baptism by fire, you may find PFB to
be an interesting place to hang out when work gets boring. So hang in
there, and best of luck.

Thanks for the support :-)

I posted today on the Chuck E Cheese topic to respond to people who were
attacking the parenting of someone they knew as much about as a paragraph
and a half letter written to a coporation can reveal - implying she needed
to learn to "watch her own damn kids." I started my post with something
I've observed as true: people love to tell people 1)how to pull themselves
up by their bootstraps and 2)how to raise their kids. I should have added
a third - people love to tell people 3)when they're making "excuses," the
worst crime against morality and self-sufficiency one can imagine.

And any parent will tell you that no one is a greater expert on how to
raise kids as someone who doesn't have any. Even when they have them,
they're not too much better - my sister, bless her heart, was going to
write a book on how to raise teenagers...when her two were three and five.
What makes people think raising kids is so friggin' easy that they can spot
an inadequate parent a mile away in a sandstorm? Not to say there aren't
some parents who obviously deserve criticism - in cases of neglect, abuse,
etc. But it's as if people go out of their way to criticize the average
parent, as if through their criticism they're reaffirming their own
superiority.

But I've learned a long time ago that nothing's harder to change than
someone else's mind. So the parents among us might as well learn to grin
and ignore it, and pray heartily that these people come to remember how
easy it all seemed when and if they have kids of their own.

An unprecedented third post in a day, but I'm curious. How do you all
manage to post so much? I'm at work, and it just so happens most of our
jobs have been outsourced to people they can pay half of what we make.
That's A-OK for me, I had to leave by summer's end anyway. But all the
calls have been routed to these new call centers, and now I sit here
waiting twenty minutes between calls, taking what's left. But you guys keep
me entertained. Thanks Planet Feedback!

What about you guys? I mean some of you post from 8 in the morning till
late at night. What should you be doing right now? (don't worry, I won't
tell your boss ;-)

How weird that I should post twice on one day? But having my daughter as my
new avatar prompts me to share our conversation from last night-

Her: Will I look like you when I grow up?
Me: *Head inflating* You sure you want to?
Her: Well I'll be skinny.
Me: *Head deflating back to normal size* Yeah, let's see how skinny you are
after three kids.
Her: I'll work out. I'll sit in that little black chair [from the
commercial] and do sit ups and run.
Me: *Head actually shrinking at this point* Go play.

God love her.

I'm developing a theory from reading complaints on PFB. I'm starting to
think that 90% of these people with a weird sense of entitlement (e.g. the
guy with the Best Buy warranty) or a drive to get over on the company (e.g.
Miss Slip and Fall) or the inability to understand that employees make
mistakes (take your pick) have never, ever, EVER held hospitality, customer
service, or public relations (with direct consumer contact) positions. That
just has to be the case. I was on the line with some 800# the other day at
home, I can't even remember why now, but I was getting nowhere with the
representative. So finally I said, "You know what? It sounds like you're
really trying to help me and you just don't have the information or
authorization to get me what I need. So I'd really like to speak with a
supervisor to see if maybe they can take it further, thanks." My husband
looks up and says, "Wow, the way you asked was so nice!" I answered, "Of
course. I'm a phone rep."

With this in mind, I think it should be mandatory that every consumer
should have to spend one day serving on the front lines and see things from
the other side of the register. I can't help but think it would make some
of these people much more reasonable consumers, and far less annoying
people in general.

I must admit that since finding this site I've been eagerly awaiting for a
company to piss me off so I can post it on PlanetFeedback.com and have
people replying to me where they're all like, "Get real!" and I'm all like,
"Shut up, dude, you don't know a thing about me, and I don't care what you
think anyway!" and they're all like, "Well if you don't care, why'd you
click 'share letter'?" and I'm all like, "Cuz it's a free country and I'll
do what I want" and they're all like, "It's 'cause not cuz, short for
because, learn to spell!" and I'm all like, "I'm an English major about to
graduate summa cum laude, but thanks for the EDUCATION" and they're all
like,"Turn the friggin caps key off" and I'm all like, "It's friggin', not
friggin, now who can't spell?" and then I get a free coupon for food or
groceries or something. Problem is I've got so many real problems in my
life, I forget to notice when McDonald's doesn't give me enough ketchup
packets or whatever. I'll try to be more vigilant in the future.

Hello to anyone who might be listening! Today I'm on
www.thehansofoundation.org, having been led there from www.sublymonal.com,
having seen THAT on a commercial during Lost. It has to do with the show,
so any other Losties with clues for the site let me know!

1.) Yes, we're still here. Where else would we go? It's not like we've got
a call on the other line, or we're going to put the headset down long
enough to yell at the kids. We're still here. Please stop interrupting
yourself every five words to ask.

2.) And while you're at it, please stop interrupting us.

3.) No, you may not speak to a supervisor. At least not until you've told
us why. Of if you insist on making this your first request, please be
honest enough to word it as following: "Hello. I think you, as a mere call
center rep, are likely of limited intellect. Anyone with any skill,
empathy, or ability is likely to have been promoted to the level of
supervisor. Therefore, please put her on the phone at this time, and, after
having done so, you may resume your previous drooling." And you must excuse
us if our limited intellect allows no more elevated of a response than, "Yo
momma."

4.)Every two minutes or so, pause to consider whether or not we care about
what you're saying. You might be surprised how often the answer is no. We
are evaluated based on how quickly and efficiently we can answer your
concerns and get you off the phone. Giving a run down of the weather
forecast in your area for the remainder of May is not conducive to that
process.

5.) No, we can't get it to you any faster.

6.) No, we are not sitting around playing Bid Whist laughing about your
extended hold time. We have no control over staffing levels.

7.) Threatening legal action will get you nowhere. Legal is not our
department. Legal makes more money than we do. If you'd like to be their
headache, be our guest.

8.) We will not loose our jobs for hanging up on you if you swear at us.
And as hanging up on someone is always fun both in our professional and
personal lives, feel free to swear at will.

9.) We know when you're lying. Stop it.

10.) We get a strange sense of job satisfaction from helping a consumer in
need. But we owe you nothing. You went down to your local grocery store and
bought a $10 whatever, not our souls. We are not the Igor to your Dr.
Frankenstein. You will not topple our multi-million dollar corporation by
refusing to buy our brand anymore. If you somehow did, we'd just go work
somewhere else anyway. So stop threatening, pouting, shouting, and fussing,
grow up, and let us do our jobs. Now, if you'll excuse us, there's a call
on the other line and we've got to go smack the kids.

God bless the individual who FINALLY invented the U-Scan. Seriously.
There's nothing more satisfying than by-passing long lines, cashiers who no
longer know how to say "Hello" let alone "Have a nice Day," and baggers who
could care less what is thrown in with what. But with progress, sadly,
often comes decline.

I was in Kroger's the other night, I think it was the day before Easter,
and there was one cashier lane and the four U-Scan lanes open. Needless to
say, the lines were horrendous. So of course, everyone heads to the U-Scan
line to get out faster. Including people who've never used the U-Scan.
Including people who conceivably have never operated anything more
technologically advanced than their TV. I watched one woman stare at the
screen, then at the package in her hand, then at the screen again for so
long I began to itch.

I don't expect those born in the generations before my own to be technical
wizards, but for the love of God people, when you see the lines are already
fifteen people deep, stay away from the U-Scan! You're just asking for
trouble! You're that guy going straight in the far right lane at a busy
intersection during rush hour traffic. You're the bank customer that comes
in with fifty deposits on a Friday afternoon while the rest of us tear our
deposit slips in frustration. Check-Out Rage will be the biggest news item
of 2006 if you don't use common sense here, folks. Don't say I didn't warn
you!

Hello! Inspired, huh?