I recall many years ago when I still used a postpaid number, I was in a phone conversation with a telecommunications operator, arguing about a bunch of numbers I didn’t call but were included as such in my monthly billing. When it became clear we weren’t getting anywhere in our already-louder exchange, she transferred my call to a supervisor at my request.
As I have suspected, the older woman might have been monitoring our conversation all along because when she came on, I wasn’t even allowed one peep. Without much fanfare, she simply proceeded to recite what sounded like a prepared statement regarding company policies and when she was done reading, she didn’t wait for whatever I had to say. She simply said “thank you” (in a rather dismissed manner) and promptly hung up. Like having a door slammed in your face.
True, that may have saved the day for them, finally getting rid of a bothersome customer, but overall, if say, multiplied by ten, it’s the surest way to lose clients, mishandling grievances in ironically, one’s customer service department just because you could.
Since then, that has always been a pet peeve of mine, being on the receiving end of a dismissive thank you. The pretensions of some people pretending to be decent and courteous, while in truth, are short of flipping them, these have got to be one of the worst put-downs ever. Come to think of it, it’s really never about the embarrassment, mind you. What gets to me is the hypocrisy of the whole thing. Try to notice it happening in the day-to-day grind, in offices and especially in the halls of politics.
I’d rather accept brutal, direct or uncouth behavior in some people. For all we know, they just might be having a really bad day. Once, in the middle of a busy Köln street, a clearly-disgruntled street worker barreled through the crowd without much of an entschuldigung. My host-mom merely shook her head and cautioned, not all are what they seemed.
True indeed, in this present time, courtesy, good behavior and concern for others appear to rule the day. You would believe the days of dismissive behavior have long gone. Spoiler alert, just you wait till the elections are over and the winners take their seats. At this, it might be the perfect time to rhyme, It’s alright ma, I’m only bleeding, as a Dylan song goes.
