in-VISIBLE-ly Human...

"Hi, my name is Aida and I'm calling from...(a click, then silence)OH??! Man, they just hung up on me..."


I must repeat those lines at least 3 or 4 times a day..you see I'm a telemarketer. OK, before you moan and groan, I don't ask for money or try to sell stuff. It's one of the things I like about my job - I only ask for donations of household discards and old clothing, but this is not a plug for my job or a solicitation for goods, no this is about the down side to my job - rude people.

First some background - yes, I'm college educated and yes, I have owned my own company before so it's not lack of education or skills that have me behind the phones. It's more a matter of circumstance. See, when the economy began its downward turn so did my company, shortly after closing my flower shop I found out I was pregnant, which brings me here. Lack of high paying jobs won't cut the mustard when you have to pay for daycare. I chose a job that would pay me what I needed for now and give me the freedom to be home with my toddler. Maybe not ideal, but I am grateful.

Like I said, I don't sell anything, I'm not a bill -collector, not that I'm advocating being rude to people in this line of work, but as a phone owner myself I can see how people in sales or bill-collecting can press the wrong button or be entirely too pushy. Because of the nature of my job, I can't be pushy - a "no" is a "no"- otherwise you might tell me you have something you don't and it counts against me. If a person says no - I move on.

Daily, I try my best to do my do my job with a smile on my face and with good cheer, but what has prompted me to write this post is that, despite my best efforts, people (and lawdy -their children) can be extremely rude. I can't tell you how many times I've been cussed out, hung up on, prank called, threatened and, unbeknownst to them, brought to tears. Some days are worse than others and thankfully, most days are bearable.

I'm writing because I truly believe that if you like reading my blog - you're a person who cares about the world and the welfare of people and maybe you haven't given much thought about the telemarketers that call your home. Honestly, before I started this job, I didn't think about the person on the other end of the phone line, either. I didn't think that perhaps they're fighting their way through the day, or maybe they hate their job and my rude behavior may not be helping. I have a friend that's a debt collector, knee high in debt herself, she hates what she has to do, but she like the rest of us, has to pay bills and feed her kids, too. Get the connection?

I know many telemarketers can be rude and pushy, but really as you can see from my introduction to this post, sometimes before the words are fully out of my mouth, people are already slamming down the phone. I don't know what the rules are for bill collectors or sales people, maybe they are trained to push, but I'm not and with over 300+ calls to make daily in a short period of time, I welcome the kind person that respectfully requests I take them off the list.(no problem...with pleasure...)

So the next time someone calls your phone, unless it's a machine, try not to just hang-up as a knee-jerk reaction. Try to remember there's a human being on the other end and, please... try to be human, too.

BE blessed