Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Smart Is As Stupid Does




Visit us and buy fine wine for the holidays.


So I have a confession to make. And I feel kinda bad about it because, you know, it's kinda like a "who the hell do I think I am" confession.

Quick version:
Frick had her senior pics take by a professional.(all the seniors do this) They're great and we have the disc to produce copies. Frack never brought home the order form for his school pics that were taken at the high school this fall, so I never even saw them, much less ordered them. This is the first year that this has ever happened, and to be honest, we all kind of let it go.

Fast forward to now. It's Christmas and Frick has these gorgeous, commerative senior pictures to frame and give as gifts to the grandparents and her father. Frack has none.

Enter: Catholic Guilt. Bad Mother. You name it, I deserve it.

Now, I can't have Frick giving everyone these great photos with Frack having none to give. Being the kind of person who kills herself with guilt over stupid shit like this, I panicked and called the school first thingy this am. I got the number to the company that took my son's shots and proceeded to ask the customer service rep if I could pay for a digital image to be emailed to me, or pay to overnight a package of his photos to me. And here's where the confession comes in..

The customer service rep wasn't smart. I feel awful for saying this, but she just wasn't. I mean, maybe this company is sort of "mom and pop" and maybe not, because she asked me what state I was from, but she tells me that, "because of security purposes they cannot email me a image of my son's photos". Now in this digital day and age, I'm not quite sure how this is possible, and I ask her to explain it a little further. Poor thing just couldn't and it really wasn't her fault. She just wasn't equipt with the correct information and she just wasn't articulate enough to navigate her way through this conversation.

Then she proceeds to tell me that their photo lab is closed for the holiday's and that I would not be able to access the photos until January 4th. A photo lab? I don't know about her, but I was just looking for the digital image of my son, which I would gladly pay for, and use the photo lab at Target.(where I can also buy the frame) I was not rude, I swear, but I nicely asked the flustered girl if I could speak to her supervisor, which put her in even more of a frenzied state. She put me on hold for a good 10 minutes and during that time, the guilt started to creep up my whole body.

Who the hell did I think I was? Again, I was never rude, I just kept thinking how stupid she was and herin lies the confession. I may have been talking down to her....

OMG, I was one of them....

While I was on hold, I kept thinking about how it wasn't her fault she wasn't trained properly and how I was the one in a pickle because I never ordered the photo's like I should have in the first place. The poor thing was probably in the bathroom crying or possibly going postal in the break room with the coffe pot as her weapon, and I was the catalyst. I then decided to take my own digital pictures of Frack today, in the backyard or something, which would probably be better that the school ones anyway, and I quietly hung up the phone before the supervisor could be located.

And I thought, Who the hell am I, thinking I'm all smarter than her? Shit, I do stupid stuff all the time and on some days I can sound like a complete moron, but I was blessed with a sharp tounge and a quick mind that usually gets me out of those situations right quick.

In the end, I am sure it will all turn out fine. I'm neeting Frack here this afternoon to snap some shots, and if they don't come out good, I assure you, I will be the only stupid one.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

just send them out AFTER Christmas. No one really cares, they only SAY they do, IF they say shit at all. Love you honey. XO

Heff said...

Aw, don't feel bad, Sugarplum.

Heff trounces stupid people on a daily basis.

Trust me, after awhile it feels GREAT.

Cora said...

Wednesday didn't have an order form for her school pictures either, so we don't have any to hand out with Christmas presents like we always do too. Already my ex-in-laws are starting to bitch about where the school pictures are! Grrrr.

I decided to just take her to the Picture People or Sears and just do a shot there. Yes, I could do it myself, but I just *know* certain people will be ticked if it doesn't look like an official school head shot like they are expecting.

Criminy, it's the little things that end up being such big pains in the ass, huh?

The Dental Maven said...

Candy, you're not seriously wasting any emotional energy on this one are you?? Move on, girl! If she's really that stupid she forgot about you the nanosecond she placed you on hold.

Merry Christmas and fuggedaboudit!

xo!

Deech said...

The customer service rep was correct however. For security reasons she can not email that photo. In fact, if the company ever got audited and they found that out in the email records, not only would the company be shut down, have a hefty law suit but there could also be jail time.

This is part of the Graham, Leach, Bliley act that passed in congress a couple of years ago.

For all she knew, that service rep was talking to someone in the records department at School that had all of your information as well as your son's information, including your email that they could be spoofing.

That photography studio may not be up to snuff on the technology, but they have a good company security policy in place.

the walking man said...

You're right Candace, you are a mean horrible person, cruel and undeserving of even a pixel of Fracks image!

Seriously though maybe you were talking down to her without knowing it but it is hard to shift out of being the boss mode when dealing with employee's whether they are yours or not. Don't beat yourself up instead call her back if you can and apologize, you will feel better.

I got one of those types on the phone yesterday who didn't even ask why I was calling but as soon as she pulled up my file she assumed it was about a bill I owed and refused to pay from 2002. She talked over me and over me while I tried to tell her that is not what I was calling about, that the situation had already been resolved but I kept saying the reason I need to talk to you is...and she kept right on telling me to call the collection agent and other mundane bullshit. I finally asked her to just listen for a minute and let me ask the question I called about...she said and I quote...*click* she hung up on me. Now I have been hung up on before because I after all can get all ghetto when I want but I wasn't busting one off here I was just trying to ask how much money I needed to bring in for an office visit to the surgeon because my INS won't preapprove like this facility required.

Hell NO that I could not let go and got on that phone until I got her not supervisor but her department head on the line. This was after I checked all three credit reports and came up with a perfect record.

Now I am leery about having the surgeon do the work on my neck repairing what he put in me 3 years ago.

Sometimes we cause the trouble and for that we can regret and do our best to fix but other times nope it just has to be dealt with. In your case I would apologize. In my case I am trying to find a different neurosurgeon willing to go behind someone elses work and so far no luck.

Oh just in case you didn't get it..I was just kidding in the first paragraph.

Scope said...

What Cora said!