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I agree, this is pretty mean and funny at the same time. I think where it turns from mean to funny is about where we imagine ourselves a certain distance away f

I agree, this is pretty mean and funny at the same time. I think where it turns from mean to funny is about where we imagine ourselves a certain distance away from them. But I do remember a certain time where I got mad at a customer service rep and made some comments that were... a little too cutting, and I remember experiencing her react in a way that showed she was hurt and upset. It hit me hard and I haven't done that since.

Nutmog 11y ago
But if you had only been polite, would you have gone away feeling frustrated or ripped off? There's a reason people are rude to customer service staff - it's to vent their frustrations at the company that's causing them grief, and thus feel more relieved themselves. The job of the rep is to represent the company and that includes receiving gratitude as well as criticism, "I love you" as well as "you f*". Perhaps the problem is that there are people desperate enough to suffer abuse in exchange for money. We already solved similar issues protecting people from their own desperation with minimum wage and workplace safety laws so maybe we need a legally required "maximum personal abuse" requirement on employers to protect workers from this.
- tamana 11y ago
  Tunesmith said some hurtful personal remarks to the agent (I could imagine something like "are you so stupid and your whole family so completely worthless, and you probably apat our several kids by several deadbeats to boot, that the only way you can scratch out a miserable existence is by trying to scamming people? You are going to die destitute and your children will always be homeless!", not complaints about the company
  - tunesmith 11y ago
    Actually it was almost literally what someone else on another subthread used to justify treating them badly. Something along the lines of, "Look, I'm sorry to be speaking so sharply to you, but you're the one who chose to work there."

Nutmog 11y ago

But if you had only been polite, would you have gone away feeling frustrated or ripped off? There's a reason people are rude to customer service staff - it's to vent their frustrations at the company that's causing them grief, and thus feel more relieved themselves. The job of the rep is to represent the company and that includes receiving gratitude as well as criticism, "I love you" as well as "you f*". Perhaps the problem is that there are people desperate enough to suffer abuse in exchange for money. We already solved similar issues protecting people from their own desperation with minimum wage and workplace safety laws so maybe we need a legally required "maximum personal abuse" requirement on employers to protect workers from this.

tamana 11y ago
Tunesmith said some hurtful personal remarks to the agent (I could imagine something like "are you so stupid and your whole family so completely worthless, and you probably apat our several kids by several deadbeats to boot, that the only way you can scratch out a miserable existence is by trying to scamming people? You are going to die destitute and your children will always be homeless!", not complaints about the company
- tunesmith 11y ago
  Actually it was almost literally what someone else on another subthread used to justify treating them badly. Something along the lines of, "Look, I'm sorry to be speaking so sharply to you, but you're the one who chose to work there."