Words to the younger set....

[patgund.livejournal.com]

In my current incarnation, I'm a field engineer, which means I spend half my time researching problems at my desk and the other half out at customers locations. It's actually pretty enjoyable, and its with a company that really likes to invest in their people.

My desk is in a small room in the back of a retail computer store that is owned by the parent company of the company I work for. One big happy family.

So in the break room, I had one of the retail support and sales people venting about a problem child they had to deal with. And so they asked me for advice, words of "wisdom" from someone who's done it a long time.

What I told them?

"Yeah, some people aren't worth the effort it takes to cover them up in a catbox. Anytime you do support, be it retail, corporate, freelance, field, whatever, you're going to have some jackass who thinks their farts smell like jasmine and that your sole purpose in life is to bend rules of reality to fit their demands.

When you get these, I have four words for you: 'They're Not Worth It".

They're not worth the heartburn, upset stomach, sleepless nights, anger, or anything else. They are a sad, pathetic human who acts they way they do because it's the only way they feel power over anything or anyone else. And you know what, eventually their attitude catches up with them. So you ignore them when you can, deal with them when you can't, and never give them the power over you they crave. Because they're not worth it."

So, what other words to the wise would the people here offer?

Comments

[taleya.livejournal.com]

Murphy was a f*cking optimist.

[redqueenmeg.livejournal.com]

I love Jennings' Corollary! I tell people about it all the time!

[wherdafux-d-cat.livejournal.com]

'You can say anything you want to a customer -- as long as you hang up the phone first.'

[megpie71.livejournal.com]

The distilled wisdom of ten years retail followed by five years tech support:

"Never be surprised by what people choose to complain about."

[liber-cogito.livejournal.com]

Uhm... Tech support pwnz working retail beacause in real life there is no mute button.

Also... when you roll your eyes at a customer in person, THEY CAN SEE YOU!

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that in the majority of TS jobs, you're not expected to try and sell things.

[forever-damned.livejournal.com]

Tech Support isn't restricted to phone, thank god ;p

[forever-damned.livejournal.com]

I also work (currently) in a small room in the back end of a retail PC store doing field work as well! It's made for some interesting chats with the sales staff.