minor yay

[donnaidh-sidhe.livejournal.com]

I really do like taking tech support calls from army bases. In contrast to the majority of my other calls, the people who call me from there understand my instructions the first time I issue them, confirm all instructions when I make them, and follow said instructions. They're almost invariably good-natured as well -- it's pretty amazing if you ask me. It's so very pleasant.

Plus, hearing, "Yes, ma'am," from a young man is a good way to hit my buttons. :D

Comments

[omg-teh-funnay.livejournal.com]

Really: The .mil contacts I've worked with were usually pretty hard-headed. You got lucky!

Also, I hate it when they call me "Ma'am"

[donnaidh-sidhe.livejournal.com]

I guess it just hits my domme button.

[omg-teh-funnay.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it does. Were I a woman, it would ring my bell as well. However, my wang reacts poorly to being called "Ma'am" because they're usually doing it "accidentally" :)

[donnaidh-sidhe.livejournal.com]

Haha, indeed! Though I once had a boyfriend whom I made call me Sir, so the opposite isn't so much an issue for me.

[braidedmane.livejournal.com]

...that's really hot.

*grins* I may have to try that on mine.

[vulpisfoxfire.livejournal.com]

*laugh* I get called ma'am all the time myself (I just have that kind of phone voice, I guess. And the fact that unless you're looking at my *full* first name, my name doesn't particularly say one way or the other...)

[mouser.livejournal.com]

If they're not following instructions, it's generally because they really don't understand them. Try rephrasing, it might well be a terminology problems.

[omg-teh-funnay.livejournal.com]

I'm a former Air Force guy. I know when they're not quite clear and when they're trying to buck me.

Amusingly, it's the wing wipers that are the cageiest. Our Army customers are damn chill and responsive, most of the time.

[brothersterno.livejournal.com]

I liked doing the support for the air force and the army, in that order because the air force could figure it out, and if the army couldn't figure it out you just called their tech support and they sent someone out to fix it for them. The navy was the worst, simply because they seemed to be the least organized: They couldn't figure it out, and no one else would do it for them, which got pretty frustrating.

I only dealt with the marines once, and once the ESL sgt understood what I was asking, he handed me off to the right person.

[mathsnerd]

Yes! Military discipline is a lovely thing when you're giving instructions. :D

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

Sucks on the other end, though.

When I was working in (civilian) government departments, we'd occasionally get ex-military staff who had transferred out. The first one I ever ran into became my boss's manager shortly after, and he was brilliant. Calm, collected, nothing ever fazed him until the day one of our customers leapt the counter and punched him out.

Unfortunately, the few others I've run into since then have been a lot more stereotypical in that they were martinets with no capacity for original thought or ability to adapt to fluid situations. While this approach does have its advantages (baseline auditing, making sure everything on a checklist is checked), it's usually not terribly helpful in the world of tech support.

[mathsnerd]

Very true, unfortunately.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

I'm reminded of when our rather good manager left and had to be replaced via application, and our resident ex-mil guy was one of the next level down. Nice guy to talk to, but dear lord did we ever scramble to find ANYONE else to be the big boss.

[cybirea.livejournal.com]

Hahaha! I used to work for the military and space/aerospace industries and being called Ma'am by loads of strapping young lads never did me any harm. ;)

[sdaemon.livejournal.com]

I'm stealing your procrastinate icon :P just fyi.

[cybirea.livejournal.com]

Steal away. I stole it from somebody myself. ;)

[kizayaen.livejournal.com]

What? Military, following orders? Surely not.

[donnaidh-sidhe.livejournal.com]

I know!

[kalidor.livejournal.com]

Excellent. Tho I usually try a yes miss, when I am being helped. I've gotten yelled at for ma'am because some people think that makes them sound old o.ox;


*shrugs* darned if you do, darned if you don't?

[donnaidh-sidhe.livejournal.com]

I don't mind being granted authority. :)

[superbus.livejournal.com]

Meh, as an ex serviceman, you're going to deal with both sides. You'll eventually get the other side.

We are/were just like regular people, only with shittier hours.

[donnaidh-sidhe.livejournal.com]

I calls it as I sees it, not necessarily as I thinks it should be.

[goes-kaboom.livejournal.com]

Agreed. (Plus I tend to be able to score sales -- an unfortunate part of my job -- way easier off of them than civilians. lol It's also funny to hear them react with surprise and relief when I can read off letters for WEP keys and stuff in the NATO phonetic alphabet. 0:) )

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

And here I thought NATO alphabet was something every techie should know by default :/

[demented-pants.livejournal.com]

You'd be surprised how many average non-military customers get confused when you say things like "Sierra" or "Delta."

One day, I was feeling goofy, and I used comic book characters. Worked way better than NATO phonetic.

[spacebird.livejournal.com]

I have two alphabets - the NATO one, which is my default, and if the guy on the other end can't understand it I switch to common names. "Adam, Billy, Charlie, David, Edward," etc.

[jimbojones.livejournal.com]

Yeah.

It annoys me how often civvies can't grasp the concept of ANY phonetic set. Honestly, it's not like when I was a small kid and I first heard "Able, Baker, Charlie" somebody had to explain to me what that meant. It's fucking OBVIOUS.

(It also mildly boggles me how much hate people have for military time. It just makes so much more SENSE...)

[jimbojones.livejournal.com]

note for the pedantic: yes, I know military standard is alpha bravo, not able baker... but old war movies and civvie HAM operators are where I first encountered phonetic OTR alphabets. =)

Try APCO

[gsogeek.livejournal.com]

When you deal with public safety, they like a different set: Adam, Boy, Charles, David, Edward...

I've found that the NATO set is similarly confusing to some of them, especially the dispatchers, err... telecommunicators.

Re: Try APCO

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?

Re: Try APCO

[gsogeek.livejournal.com]

I actually muttered that one time on a call, only to have the client correct me that it should have been William, Tom, Frank. Some of them are a little too dedicated, or really need to switch to decaf.

[spacebird.livejournal.com]

Military time requires those who think in civilian time to have to subtract 12. It's VURRY DIFFICULT.

[donnaidh-sidhe.livejournal.com]

No kidding!