That's Baloney!

"That's a bunch of baloney!" he shouted into the phone and I could practically feel the spit through the receiver. "I never changed my password!" With my company's website (well, the company I work for), you are allowed three mess-ups before the site blocks your account and tells you to call Client Services (that's me). "Are you sure you have the correct User ID, sir?" I asked. "Yes! I've used it the same one for years! It's a bunch of baloney! Someone changed my password!" he spewed. "I can assure you, sir, that it is not baloney," I might have said, "Can you confirm your User ID for me?" He read off the ID he was using. "Sir, that doesn't match the ID we have on record here. It looks like you still have your default ID." "Oh, you mean the (Insert default ID here) one?" he responded, a bit more calmly. "Yes sir," I responded (I've become quite liberal with the use of the word "sir" these days). "Welp... that did the trick. Thank you!" and he was gone.

I hung up and chuckled to myself. This guy's immediate assumption was that we somehow messed up his account when he forgot his user name. How many people actually believe that something they did wrong was someone else's fault. It happens all the time, right? But you and I never do it, do we?

At my current job, when I'm not pushing buttons and waiting for the printer to respond, I'm usually dealing with customers on the phone who want to know how to put money in their account. Usually the customers that call are elderly and may or may not be able to see the computer screen. It's painfully monotonous.

My two least favorite moments are when my boss and my more experience co-worker will say to me, "Tom, what's the deal with this account (or something along those lines)." It'll either be missing paperwork, or I'll have forgotten to send an e-mail. "That's a bunch of baloney!" I'll say to myself, "I know I printed/e-mailed that." Then I'll remember customers like the gent from the first paragraph. I'll whisper to myself, "Damn," and then go fetch the papers.