The Workplace

Ahhhh, the workplace, where I spend so many of my waking hours each day. The place where I'm becoming worn out by busy work heaped on me by one of our companies, stupid questions from customers, & a workspace that is in need of a make-over. In addition, there have been problems with the fax machine, printer, scanner, & computers this week. Frustration? Oh, yeah! Fortunately, we have so many strange/stupid interactions with customers that we always have something to laugh about.

This week, the first of the month, has brought forth the usual cast of characters (those who refuse to mail in their payments or go on automatic debit). We have had the man who is so loud we often have a headache when he leaves . . . when he's not talking in his "outside" voice, he's giggling like a hyena. The short (almost can't see her over the counter) woman who has entralled us with details of beating up her female lover & being arrested for battery. The part-Cherokee man who is not licensed to drive--his wife drives him around in a big purple pickup truck--who always is getting ready for a pow wow somewhere & who always has some inside information about gas prices.

We have often thought of secretly compiling a top ten list of the dumbest customers . . . It would be a hot contest! I recently asked a customer (who was reporting a claim) what the circumstances of the accident were. "Huh?" she said. So I rephrased, "how did the accident happen?" She replied, "I don't know." I responded, "Were the police called?" thinking that the details could be found in the police report. "Huh?" she said. She cannot top, however, the guy who let a girl he met in a bar test drive the car he was hoping to sell . . . he never saw the girl or the car again!

So I guess it's good that the crazy, the unusual, the downright stupid daily interactions provide us with something to laugh about. . . at least it is never boring.