Saul the Sulcata

Saul soaking

Baking bread

Waiting for the dough to rise...

When I Became a Man

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

I Corinthians 13:11

Winter garden

Something I Learned in Tech Support

"Man, that lady sounded mad about it."
"Yeah, well she wouldn't be calling if she didn't have a problem."

There it is. I learned something in that interaction with one of my coworkers. Much of my customer service experience comes from Restaurant Land and it's given me a tremendous amount of experience with people who are mad about something or another. The big difference is that people generally don't go to a restaurant because there's a problem. They go to a restaurant to eat, drink, and be merry. When someone's calling tech support it's because there's a problem. They're not calling to have a good time. That's not to say that most people who call are really mad. Most people are cool and just want a solution to their problem. Nevertheless, underlying even the kindest person's call is something negative that needs to be resolved. They'd rather not ever talk to you.

Yeah, you could say that hunger is a problem that a restaurant is looking to solve but most people aren't frustratingly hungry and mad about it. Yes, again, you can argue against that, too, but I'm speaking in generalities. Most people who go to a restaurant are there for positive reasons. Most people who call tech support are there for negative reasons.

Either way, the duty of the employee is to ameliorate the customer's woes and make sure they leave happy and satisfied. As a server or a retail clerk or a help desk technician or a car salesman, your duty is the same: make sure the customer leaves happy.