Telemarketers Are Real People Too?
I used to be rude to telemarketers.I mean...really rude. It's not something I'm proud of, but I used to come up with creative ways to irritate and annoy those who were irritating and annoying me. It was actually kind of fun.
But I'm still not proud of it.That changed when we had a boy in our youth group who wasn't able to get a summer job flipping burgers at Mickey D's or Burger Death. So he took a job at one of those lowlife places, the telemarketing call centers.
Then he started telling me stories about the people who were so rude to him, and I found myself thinking, "How could they be so rude to this kid in my youth group? How dare they?"
Hmm. Double standard.
So I started being more careful how I dealt with telemarketers. I didn't waste any more time on them than I did before, but I was much more polite, just interrupting them to say "Thank you, I'm not interested," before hanging up.
Then Nate moved on to other things, graduated from high school, went on to Bible School in New Brunswick, and became a youth pastor out on the coast of Maine. And I didn't have anyone else around to remind me how awful it was to be a telemarketer.
And I went back to being rude again...
A few weeks ago something happened that startled me. I picked up the phone, and it was a telemarketer. (No, that's not the odd part!) He had a very unusual accent. It was very familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. A few days later I got another call from someone with a very similar accent. Perplexed, I kept puzzling over that strange yet familiar accent.
Finally it dawned on me. The accent was identical to the accent I hear every time I visit the Southern Sudan Christian Mission Church in Portland, Maine.
All over our country there are cities where refugees from Sudan (often referred to as "The Lost Boys") live, safe from the civil war and religious persecution they used to face as a daily part of their lives. And in one of those cities, there must be a call center which has hired some of these refugees.
Of course. It makes perfect sense. If you have a job that no one wants to do, hire people whose lives have been so painful and difficult up to this point that they think being yelled at all day is a step up in the world.
Next to having their children stolen, or their families killed, getting yelled at by us is a walk in the park.
But you know what? That's not the impression I want them to have of my country. That's not the impression I want them to have of me.
I'm still not going to buy anything from them, I'm still not going to take the time to listen to their sales pitch, but at least I'm going to be courteous to them before I hang up.
It's the least I can do.
So when you hear that voice on the other end of the phone, trying to sell you something you don't want, remember...telemarketers are real people too. And you have no idea what has brought them to a place in their life where they would take a job like that.
Doesn't mean you have to buy something from them. Just be courteous. Maybe even wish them a good day, before you hang up and resume your daily routine.
Posted On Apr 23, 2005 at 1:03 PM
|
Doug's Random ThoughtsEverything from Soup to Nuts,And Maybe Even More! ABOUT ME Current PostsBlog Is Moving...Emergency Room Last Entry Join The Chorus Jeorge Sings A Hymn 
|