This work week is over.

Finally.

This work week has been exactly the stuff nightmares are made of. Just one of those where people were not only demanding but they were also mean spirited about their whole behaviour towards the staff at our location.

This work week I have been told to fuck off (by customers). I have been told that it is my job to “serve” customers (by customers). I have been told that we are too slow (by customers). I have been told that it was my fault a letter didn’t reach its destination (by customers). I have been told to not question customers (by customers)… And that was just on Monday…

Anyway, you get the picture, it’s been a rotten week, and today, late afternoon, I was really drained of any energy and sympathy and patience after someone questioned every single thing I would tell him:

Me: Here’s your receipt, make sure you keep it for at least one year.
Him: Why?
Me: Because the computer system will update at midnight only and if it goes down, the information may get lost and this is your only proof you’ve paid
Him: I don’t care, that’s your problem
Me: And yours too, if the payment doesn’t show up on your account, you driver’s licence will get suspended
Him: No man, that’s why I used my Visa.
Me: Visa???
Him: Yeah, that’s the only receipt I need
Me: Well, you might have a record you paid this amount of money, but it won’t have your transaction number and I’m afraid it won’t be a proof that you’ve paid THIS particular offence.
Him: We’ll see about that
Me: Why not just do yourself a favour and hold on to THIS receipt which has ALL the information you’d need to prove you’ve made the right payment for the right offence
Him: That’s your job to take care of that
Me: aaarrrrgggghhhh… Have a good day
Him: You don’t have to be rude
Me: Have a good day… sigh.

After shaking my head a little, I called the next number not even looking who was walking to my counter. I was surprised to see a smiling lady in her 40’s with a young man in his 20’s. I asked how I could help them and she looked at the young man and asked him to give me the letter he was holding. It was an invoice for a payment that was due. I took the invoice, punched the offence number in the computer system and confirmed that the amount owing on the invoice was the same and asked how they would like to pay. The young man moved his face very close to the microphone and loudly said that he wanted to pay with cash and then looked up at me and smiled. I noticed right away that he was showing signs of being mentally challenged and I couldn’t help but smile back at him. I looked at the lady who was still smiling and I smiled back at her totally getting what she was doing, letting this young man show some independence by letting him take care of this invoice. For some strange reason, I winked at her.

That small little action made me all happy inside.

I turned to the guy and told him I needed $103.00 to pay the bill. He reached in his pocket and pulled out five $20 bills and handed them to me through the opening in the window. I counted them in front of him and said that this made $100. He reached back in his pocket and pulled out two coins, one $2 coin and one $1 coin. I confirmed that this was the exact total I needed. He looked at the lady and smiled and she told him he was doing very well.

I asked him to wait just a few seconds so I could ring all this in and give him a receipt. He nodded.

I printed his receipt and stapled it to his invoice and handed it to him. I reminded him to keep the receipt for at least one year. He moved his head once again very close to the microphone and said: “thank you sir” to which I happily replied: “And thank you as well sir”. He smiled at me. I nodded. The lady looked at me and mouthed the words “Thank You” and took the young man by the arm to lead him toward the door. I couldn’t hear what she was telling him, but I’m sure she was reassuring him that he did a good job.

I don’t know why it affected me so much, but I took a little break after this, I needed it… I noticed my eyes had welled up.

Maybe I just realized that there are more important things in life than to let idiots get to you? It took that one gentle nice couple to revitalize my week…

This entry was posted on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 19:20 and is filed under Yup - I hate it. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.