Frustrations and therapy
I had to make some very frustrating telephone calls today. They were phone calls made to faceless companies, the sort of telephone calls that require you to listen to a great too many recorded and automated messages. Phone calls that involve a great deal of button pressing. The sort of phone calls that mean your hackles are well and truly risen by the time you get to speak to an actual person, a living, breathing company representative. A company representative who can only respond to you as a set of tick boxes on a computer screen. A person who is unable to think beyond that set of criteria on their screen.
I really hate having to make these sort of phone calls, I have to keep calm and not lose my temper while talking and, to my mind, this practised, conscious calm voice has the unfortunate side affect of making me sound as though I am talking to very small children, in short, it makes me sound rather patronising. I suspect that people who work in customer service or in call centres dislike being patronised. I really try not to do it but when you have to keep explaining yourself, slowly and carefully.....
When I finally put the phone down I found I was shaking a little, as though I had drunk way more caffeine than I should. I needed to calm down and a cup of coffee did not seem to be the way to go. So I reached for my needle and thread and began to slowly hand stitch. Each stitch soothed and calmed my troubled head. The rhythmic motion of inserting the needle and gently drawing the thread through the soft fabric, up and down. I begin to breath evenly again, I feel at ease. Perfect therapy.
I had to make some very frustrating telephone calls today. They were phone calls made to faceless companies, the sort of telephone calls that require you to listen to a great too many recorded and automated messages. Phone calls that involve a great deal of button pressing. The sort of phone calls that mean your hackles are well and truly risen by the time you get to speak to an actual person, a living, breathing company representative. A company representative who can only respond to you as a set of tick boxes on a computer screen. A person who is unable to think beyond that set of criteria on their screen.
I really hate having to make these sort of phone calls, I have to keep calm and not lose my temper while talking and, to my mind, this practised, conscious calm voice has the unfortunate side affect of making me sound as though I am talking to very small children, in short, it makes me sound rather patronising. I suspect that people who work in customer service or in call centres dislike being patronised. I really try not to do it but when you have to keep explaining yourself, slowly and carefully.....
When I finally put the phone down I found I was shaking a little, as though I had drunk way more caffeine than I should. I needed to calm down and a cup of coffee did not seem to be the way to go. So I reached for my needle and thread and began to slowly hand stitch. Each stitch soothed and calmed my troubled head. The rhythmic motion of inserting the needle and gently drawing the thread through the soft fabric, up and down. I begin to breath evenly again, I feel at ease. Perfect therapy.
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