Sunday, February 13, 2011

I know I'm no Florence Nightengale and other thoughts...

I know I'm no Florence Nightingale, but... ...do not mess around with me with one of my children is sick. Lorelai is back in her apartment after 24 hours at the Mommy Hospital. Can you say "room service?" I left her with new pillows, clean sheets, a full can of Lysol spray, a fresh box of tissues, a new toothbrush, Gatorade, chips, ice cream, hummus and chips, granola bars, microwavable meals, cough drops, and two more days worth of TamiFlu and z-pack.  No fever, thank goodness.  I've made my way back to the lowcountry and have been decontaminated...shower, potentially germ carrying clothing in the washer...and am DONE for the day.

The other thoughts...
I stopped in Columbia at Barnes and Noble on my way to Clemson yesterday to grab a book. While in the store my cell phone rang.  I don't even know why I answered it...I usually don't if I don't recognize the number but I was distracted.  It was a telemarketer. Generally, if I do answer, I hang up on them but this time...oh my, THIS time.  When the person on the other end with QUITE an accent asked, Is this Bell-lee?, I went TWINK...and that, my friends, ain't good. Right in Barnes and Noble I LOST my cool with a telemarketer.

I replied...NO, there is nobody in the world that I am aware of named BELL-LEE.  Who are you and why are you calling me?  The man started talking and I could not understand a word, so I got madder. You are making no sense at all...I cannot understand a word you are saying...SPEAK ENGLISH...get somebody on this phone who SPEAKS ENGLISH!!!  Please hold...he replied.

By now, I'd wondered to the magazine section where a woman perusing Vanity Fair nodded and said, I know how you feel...

Long story short...I went through two more male voices and the best I could figure was that the call had something to do with my gym membership (which I haven't used in months).  I don't know why I didn't hang up...I was SPEWING contempt and told the third one that I can't understand a bleep thing you're saying...what is WRONG WITH YOU?????  I know you THINK you're speaking English but you are aren't. SPEAK ENGLISH...GET SOMEBODY ON THIS PHONE FROM AMERICA!! (Yes my friends...this southern belle said bleep...I never say bleep...)  He said, Please hold...

The fourth guy had the audacity to say, I am from American, my name is Mark Jones from New Jersey.  By now I am back in the car driving and am coming to realize that I must be losing my mind.  I wheeled onto I-26 and said, Your name is NOT Mark Jones!!  Do you think I'm an IDIOT...(crazy woman, maybe...idiot, certainly not). 

Then I hung up. I sort of scared myself a little. I don't remember walking from the magazine section out to the car.  I've had a lot of time to think about it and have come to what I believe is a reasonable explanation of why I would go AROUND the bend with a telemarketer...

I deal with unreasonable people on a regular basis.  Some of them are extended family members. I have to try and solve their problems and comply with their requests. Parents may come into the building and be UGLY and I have to remain professional. People do not want to take responsibility for their actions.  I am the "fixer." I get frustrated but swallow my irritation and do my job.

I'm reckoning that I can only swallow so much irritation...then comes TWINK!  The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak.  So now we know my threshold...about six and a half months. 

Woe unto the telemarketer who calls around the first of September.

Any thoughts?

11 comments:

  1. I don't get telemarketer calls but I know how annoying it is to talk or try to talk to someone via telephone and they are in like India or somewhere. Esp when you are calling for computer help or something like that, all of the help is in a foreign country. It's ridiculous!

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  2. At least you finally lost your cool with a telemarketer rather than an extended family member or a parent of one of your students. Sometimes I think I'm going to bite my tongue in half trying to remain cool and professional when someone is being totally unreasonable and ugly. My thought on your telemarketer is that they had it coming!

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  3. I totally get this. As a fellow educator, I think a lot of it stems from the fact that we do have a lot of people be ugly to us, while we have to remain calm and professional, and sometimes, you've just kept it all in as long as you can! I had a confrontation with a student the other day which escalated to a point that I was sending him to the office, which is RARE...on his way out the door, he said, "You need to take your pills, lady!" Lucky for all of us, he was on his way out the door and the bell rang about 30 seconds later! So, yes, I "get" how you feel!

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  4. Best part of the story - and I can totally relate to - you don't remember walking from the magazine section to the car. Glad you could VENT to him! Because I so understand how you CANNOT vent most of the time ;-) Now, the question Bell-lee is - did you walk out of B&N without paying because I think they would've been afraid to stop you. ;-) hehe. Have a great week and Valentine's Day filled with love. XOXO

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  5. Hope Miss L is feeling much better this week. You were a sweet Mom to go and take care of her! And yes, I hate telemarketers too. I am not a screamer, but one time, I got so mad I screamed at one of them, they were so persistent with me!!! And I will hang up in a heartbeat. Can't stand telemarketers. So aggravating!! Have a wonderful week and a nice Valentine's Day! Love & blessings from NC!

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  6. I too lose my cool when it comes to telemarketers....I lose all control of "me"...just the fact that they will not take no for an answer or totally ignore you when you are trying to speak back to them, even if you're just trying to tell them "no, thank you" (I do try to be "polite", sort of - it's that southern thang!) Can't stand them!!

    You're a good mother....hope Lorelai is feeling better real soon!

    ~Beth

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  7. I know how you feel!!
    One called this morning and I told them NOT to call back...several times, and she replied, "Oh...we will"! As in, they WILL call back.
    I was LIVID!

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  8. I work for a doctor's office and have to call insurance companies all the time. It is sooo obvious that they're in India and then they tell us their names are "Frank" and "Lisa". It's so frustrating!!!

    PS. I gave you an award on my blog! Check it out!
    http://northerngirlwithasouthernstateofmind.blogspot.com/

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  9. Yikes, sorry Lorelai has been so sick. Sure hope you don't get it.

    I don't like telemarketers either. One time I got so mad when I told her I wasn't interested several times. Shee didn't stop but kept on with her canned speech. I finally said "What part of I'm not interested did you not understand?" And I wasn't very nice when I said it either. She finally said "Have a nice day." and then hung up. LOL

    Hugs,
    Kat

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  10. Love the blog, I was born from a true Southern Belle mother, as she taught me the hospitality ways of Southern women.
    Regarding "Telemarketers" they absolutely drive me up a wall. Will not take "NO" for an answer. Try to hang up nicely, they keep "Chatting On and On" but I am not interested-but "They say" you will receive -etc, etc, etc, - I hang up on them-they will not let you hang up politely.
    There needs to be laws !!!!
    You put your phone number on the "Do call list" or enter 9 -for Do not call this number again. "THEY STILL CALL" Grrrrrrrrr !!~

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