Posts

Customer Service

In recent years, people complain about the quality of customer service many companies offer. Part of the problem seems to be the absence of human contact when the only way to reach some businesses is by going through a series of recorded prompts on the phone or finding oneself in a loop of written directions when trying to get help online. For example, when I call my local pharmacy,  I keep repeating, “Speak to pharmacy staff” and then wait as their eerie music plays while I’m on hold before I can talk to a live person. Once I’m finally able to speak with someone from a company I’ve called, I find that questions and issues can be resolved quickly as I convey details and gratitude for their help. While my phone skills are fairly strong, my tech skills leave something to be desired at times. I suspect that my former seventh grade students sensed my hesitation regarding fixing electronics. When audio-visual equipment wouldn’t work, they’d usually ask, “Is it plugged in?” Fortunately, it w

Comforting Words

I’ve spent many pleasant hours of my life in libraries. Since childhood, I’ve enjoyed searching for books to read for pleasure, whether by using old fashioned card catalogs filled with paper summaries stuffed in drawers, newer computerized digital inventories, a modern app on my iPad that allows me to search my library’s collection easily, or just wandering among the bookshelves. In college, I pored over the campus library’s books of literary criticism to support my research for term papers. As an English major, I was thankful that the literature section was housed on the second floor of the old library and not the basement, where rats were rumored to roam. Although the pandemic has halted my actual trips to libraries, I have been thankful for online resources and electronic books available through our public library. In the two years I have not visited a library, I’ve read more books each month than I ever have read before. From the comfort and safety of home, I’ve searched for and fo