How Rude is too Rude?

How many of you have been rude to a call centre agent?

Be honest now.

How many of you have let some poor, unsuspecting helpline operator have it? Did you delight in upsetting the other person? Did you enjoy telling them ‘what for’? Did it make you feel better? Did it make you feel like ‘the man’? What I really want to know is did it make you feel taller?

I am guilty of all of the above, except the bit about feeling like ‘the man’. I don’t have balls I have boobs therefore very little will make me feel like ‘the man’.

Here is some trivia: up until recently being a support line operator was what I did during the day. It was by and large the most thankless job I’ve ever done and, on some level, soul destroying. I went in wanting to save the world and I’m left cringing every time my phone rings. I believe ‘The Cringe’ is just one of the lingering side effects of helpline overload. When ‘The Twitch’ starts it’s time to check in a mental health facility.

I’m a big believer in taking something away from everything I do. What I have decided to take from the Helpline Experience is something I’ve termed ‘The Helpline Test”. Have your date phone a helpline and see how they behave. If they make it through that test without swearing, grimacing, or bursting a blood vessel you’ve got yourself a keeper.