A Break From Tradition - Phone Calls

Bit of a thoughtful post today under the title "A Break From Tradition".

We had a phone call today, and as usual I didn't answer it as it's often a cold caller or an advertising firm (Perhaps they're one and the same), and it caused me to think about how people react to these calls and treat the person on the other end of the line, and the large amount of hypocrisy often present in these rants or attitudes.

At the end of the day, the person on the other end of the line is no different from you or me. They're there to do a job, to earn a living and to get through life. They're doing what they're told to by their superiors, and you can't fault them for that. Yes, I'll agree that ringing your house after around 7-8pm is perhaps rude, but I don't think it gives anyone a right to spout such venom at the poor person on the other end.

I'll use my mum as a great example of what I mean. She comes home from work and sometimes rants about rude customers she's had, how they treat her rudely and so forth. And yet when the phone rings and it's someone doing their job, she's rude to them. How is that an appropriate way to behave? The person on the other end of the line has probably been treated like that all day, perhaps all week. They're polite to you (Well, as polite as one can be in that job) and I would say that you should be polite back to them. They're human beings after all!

I had a job that wasn't too different in nature. I was on what's called "front cover" for part of a job, and the point of that task is to approach customers who've walked into the store and ask them to sign up to something (Usually a catalogue). You get *so* many people being rude to you that it's really morale destroying. "No, I don't speak English" is a common one. Rarely a "No, thank you" or a pitying glance, just "No" or something equally blunt and rude. You quickly begin to give up hope with it because it's just this barrage of rudeness, people not being courteous and negativity.

I'm not going to pretend to be some moral arbiter who tells you how to live your life, nor how to behave. I'm not doing this post for any particular reason. I just think that a bit of courtesy is required. Imagine you're the person on the other end of the line. Would you like to be treated like you just treated them? No, I would guess not.