Dear So and So

[RobertBycle]

Dear Curmudgeon,

Why dont old people like for kids and dogs to play on their grass?

Sincerely,

The Grass is Always Greener on Old Vets Lawn

[Trek420]

Dear Customers,

A quick poll on a customer service forum I'm on says that our major pet peeve is the use of "you people", We find that any conversation starting with that is bound to go south. Corporations are NOT people, I'm people most specifically a people who can and will help you if you let me. But that's not my pet peeve. Mine is spelling.

News flash: I can spell. So if your name is Quigless Wbbbly, say it! I see your name on the account or will when I pull it up. But when you say "My name is Q as in quintessential, U as in undulate, I as in ....." I can see the letters. And if you, like me, have an unusual ethnic name you are used to people mispronouncing it. So give me a break, say it. Otherwise I have to go through the dance of "Do I have this right? Can I call you Quig? Do you prefer Ms Wbbbly?" Believe it or not I can be put on a PIP (personal development plan or the precursor to being fired) for opting out and just using Sir or M'Am. And I'm just trying to keep my nose clean and stay employed for 41 more days till I can start just using up all my vacation before I scram.

[smilingcat]

Dear Customers,

News flash: I can spell. So if your name is Quigless Wbbbly, say it! I see your name on the account or will when I pull it up. But when you say "My name is Q as in quintessential, U as in undulate, I as in ....." I can see the letters. And if you, like me, have an unusual ethnic name you are used to people mispronouncing it. So give me a break, say it. Otherwise I have to go through the dance of "Do I have this right? Can I call you Quig? Do you prefer Ms Wbbbly?" Believe it or not I can be put on a PIP (personal development plan or the precursor to being fired) for opting out and just using Sir or M'Am. And I'm just trying to keep my nose clean and stay employed for 41 more days till I can start just using up all my vacation before I scram.

Wow! your employer is strict! get on PIP for using Sir or Ma'am. I thought that was being polite when you don't know their name. I can see the frustration with when you have their account pulled up and they still insist on spelling out their name.

In all honesty, I wouldn't last a day in your job. I'm determined NOT to help my partner with her tech problems except to get her computer running or getting it connected to the WiFi. I've given up on keeping her computer virus free or how to keep out the virus. that concept is just too foreign. Also NOT to help my 87 yo mother with her cell phone. All I get is cauliflower ears and being chewed out. I just don't know how to explain things! or I am indifferent or don't care about their plight with tech problems. count the days and throw away the numbered paper plate every day!

ahh spelling.. Did you really graduate from high school? And you still say things like "Mom, me and Johnny is going to the store. Want something?" 8 words in the sentence "me and Johnny..." It has three mistakes. pretty amazing. High school grad no less. Another one is "Dog belongs to Johnny and I" only one mistake. Tad better. Language is fluid and dynamic. English language is quite alive so one should expect it to change over time in its grammar and spelling.

[smilingcat]

I was hoping to have some fun at jury selection. Got called for jury duty. For two days, I dutifully went and waited to be called to be o a jury. But no luck.

I was hoping to have the following conversation.

DA: "What is your profession?
me: "I'm a farmer"
DA: "Did you graduate from high school?"
me: "I didn't see any value in high school so I dropped out in my junior year." quite true I think I dropped out in late February or early March after I received my acceptance to Columbia University and Cornell.
DA: "Do you have GED?"
me: "I don't see any value in that either so no" For me it would be more of a minus to have GED. Isn't a graduate degree good enough? Maybe I should have completed my PhD program...
me: "Besides, the summer after I dropped out, I packed two suitcases and moved out to NYC" yes that is true.

I was hoping to have a "fun" conversation about women's rights and abortion issue. Really tweak right to life argument. It is so flawed and very very dangerous.

The context in how it was phrased paint a very different picture. though it is very true that high school had no value or nothing to offer for I was studying P. Chem, quantum mechanic (Schrodinger's equation, particle in a box), calculus and differential equation on my own at that time.

Well I did my civic duty without causing any raucous so that was all very good. Maybe next time.

[Trek420]

In all honesty, I wouldn't last a day in your job. I'm determined NOT to help my partner with her tech problems except to get her computer running or getting it connected to the WiFi. I've given up on keeping her computer virus free or how to keep out the virus. that concept is just too foreign. Also NOT to help my 87 yo mother with her cell phone. All I get is cauliflower ears and being chewed out. I just don't know how to explain things! or I am indifferent or don't care about their plight with tech problems. count the days and throw away the numbered paper plate every day!

Few people do. Seniority and tenure used to be a lot higher. In my view you want your CSR's to be happy, relaxed, comfy and not stressed because we are the voice of your company. I might go into this more at length later but for right now it's about 35 days till I start my using up vacation and 56 days till official retirement.

Till then one frustrating thing is especially at this time of year, it's the holidays, we're all a bit stressed and lonely.

We seem to get more calls now from the 87 year old with a smart phone. If grandma is not tech savvy get her a regular flip phone. They make them! One sad call I took recently, elderly woman in assisted living. The family got her an iPhone 4s, and they really will only respond to her texts. And she can't send texts. I figure out that the problem is her iOS is waaaaay out of date and the device has no memory, it's full. She's reluctant to delete anything from it because that phone, those are the only family photos she's got. I can help her back them up but there's no wifi in her rooom, only the community center which she can't get to. So we're stuck essentially because until she can get to the community center, have someone help her back up to the cloud, delete some stuff, update the iOS she's stuck.

If you're getting granny or gramps a smart phone for Xmas make d@mn sure it comes with a gift certificate for your time to help them set it up, manage and learn it. You don't even have to do that! Go to The free classes at Apple, they'll teach gramps, you just spring for lunch.