I'm just a girl....

From the time I was a kid, my parents told me that I could do anything I put my mind to, be anything I wanted to be, and live the life I wanted to live. While that might be a bit extreme, I've never really had the mentality that because I was female I couldn't do things that men could do. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an active feminist, and I don't believe that I'm nearly as strong as most men, but I feel that answering phones is a job in which sex doesn't matter.

Not apparently so, for one of my recent callers, Mr. Johnson*. Upon hearing my voice on the other end of the line, he demanded to speak with a man. I politely told him that I couldn't transfer his call to a man but that I would be more than happy to answer his question. He wanted to know why he wasn't able to watch the Yankees game that afternoon. When I told him that due to MLB regulations, certain games were blacked out for those not in "Yankee territory", he went crazy.

Mr Johnson: Get me a man! You have no idea what you're talking about!
Me: I assure you sir, a male employee would be telling you the exact same thing. I'm not making this up, I'm reading the memo they sent us.

I then read him, verbatim, the memo that had been given to us by the company.

Mr Johnson: You're just a girl, what would you know?
Me: The same thing as a man sir. We all read the same memos here. I'm sorry, but Rhode Island isn't in Yankee territory.
Mr. Johnson: ahhh, get back in the kitchen *click*

I understand that he was older and frustrated that he couldn't watch his game, but the angle he came at me with was unbelievable to me. It didn't upset me and I maintained a professional attitude throughout the call (again, I value that paycheck) but what happened to common courtesy and respect? It's not like he needed me to analyze the game/stats/players, he wanted to know why it wasn't airing for crying out loud.

Either way, there will always be people out there that hold archaic opinions and I've learned that I have to learn to smile and nod and be a polite and friendly person. The way every woman should be.

*names have been changed to protect the ignorant

You never really can go back...

As my loyal and frequent readers (and I love you both), may know, I have been on a leave of absence from the call centre I work at. For 6 weeks I was doing an internship at a local not-for-profit organization. The time I spent away from the call centre put a lot into perspective for me. It was nice to see what it was like working in a normal office environment, and not have to be micro-managed so much.

My internship has come to an end, however, and now I must temporarily return to the world of cable, internet and telephone bills. My first shift back went differently than I anticipated. Although I had been dreading it, I was excited to see my coworkers. As you know, they're my favourite part of the job. To my dismay, I'd found that a number of them had quit, (The Scapegoat and The Hustler, to name a few), and one had been "promoted" and was sitting in another area of the call centre. Some of their shifts had changed, and there were new faces everywhere. The first thing you learn about call centres is that change is constant, but I wasn't expecting to see so much change. I've left for extended periods of time before (I'm from Ireland, and tend to go back and visit during the summer) but never have I returned to such a bitter environment. The first thing I was greeted with was the fact that the phone systems had changed and I had to learn the new system. Everyone else received formal training, I got a 5 minute "this is what's up". Granted, the manager that helped me was extremely helpful and tried to explain everything clearly for me, but I couldn't help but feel like it was a sink or swim mentality. Of course I just ran with it, and haven't had any problems so far.

On a much more positive note, I was recently interviewed for an article in Information Age magazine about call centres. Be on the lookout for that!