Just thought I'd take a moment to babble a bit. Pizza rolls are 5 for $10 at HyVee. On a side note, I think my job is slowing turning me into an a$$hole. At some point, I just became really burnt-out on it, and I get irritated very easily when someone is even remotely rude with me on the phones at work. I fear this negative attitude will start showing itself in my everyday life as well. When I deal with someone who is totally unreasonable, I keep daring myself to tell them, "It's just a computer you soul-less imbicile, get a life." I just want to leave that mentality behind forever... I was standing in the parking lot of my apartment a couple hours ago and it seemed unusually quiet. The air smelled so sweet and there was a cool breeze. When I closed my eyes and inhaled that air, I felt new life. It didn't seem possible that people could hate or fear. Everything outside of that moment seemed so insignificant. Much like when you hear song that reminds you of a time in the past. Anyhow...... take care everyone.

Poppy seed rolls are three for a buck at Fred Meyer, easier on my heartburn.

Too many years dealing with public on front line, finally have a back counter job and only have to deal with the techs. Not that they are any better or worse than the public, but since we all work for the the same company I can look them in the eye and tell them when they are full of **** .
Of course some of them think I am an ******* and at times they are correct, honest feedback is great.
Wages seem directly tied to stress levels. So does happiness. Striking the balance between the two can use up many relationships.

Another plus is - I don't hurt my Fiero as much when I'm at peace with myself.

Poppy seeds will cause you to fail a drug test!!!!!!!!!

Well I worked in fastfood service/management for 9 years, with customers. During 4 of those years I was getting my Bachelors degree. I wanted to tell off so many people that were complaining about coffee being too hot or too cold, or some other seemingly petty problem compared to my degree. I was a HUGE grumpy bastage, but when I finally quit life was sweet(I still wake up on rare occacion thinking im late for that damn job)! Doing the people dealings can be very rough, especially when customers decide to take out all their problems on you.
It'll get better!

Mini pizza rolls are 2 boxes for $3 at LoBills (25 in a box).

I like most of the customers. Even the ones that are butt heads don't bother me much 'cause the good ones outweigh the bad. What I can't stand is my co workers, specifically the store manager. He has got to be the most selfish, irresponsible, mean spirited, backassward, stupid, retarded, a**hole I have ever met. (Those are his good points.) My job is definitely turning me into an a**hole. I haven't fought with my wife so much since we've been married. I'm always grumpy. I don't care about much of anything like I used to, either. Supposedly (we'll see), I'll get pulled from the store in about a week and a half so I can train at another store. I think I can make it that long. If I don't get pulled, I guess I get to look for another job. I'm rambling. I'll stop.

It's not you, Bastard, it's your job. Telephone customer service jobs are the worst - I worked my way through school answering phones for a members-only shopping service. Then I answered phones for a major pharmaceutical company for two years before finding my current (great) job as a tech writer.

Several factors combine to make telephone customer service jobs so awful:

1) One in every ten callers you get is a moron. Over time, this will cause you to develop an unhealthy hatred for humanity and a false belief that you are superior to society at large. (If you were, you'd be rich and wouldn't be answering these damn phones.)
2) There's always some dumba$$ in the office who takes the job far too seriously. This person is always running through the break room shouting things like "Four calls in queue, people! FOUR CALLS IN QUEUE!" and reporting co-workers to management for taking too many pee breaks. I fantasized about administering a Reginald Denny-style beating to this person many times.
3) The presence of pseudo-motivational "Successories" posters everywhere in your call center, displaying slogans such as "The difference between ORDINARY and EXTRAORDINARY is that little EXTRA." Or, "Think OUTSIDE the box!" These slogans make you realize how much harder you should be looking for another job.
4) The phones never, ever stop ringing. No matter how hard you work, there will always be the same amount of work left to do. Postal workers face a similar challenge, which is why they sometimes shoot people.
5) Quality vs quantity. There's no easy way to measure the quality of service you provide your customers, but it's sure easy to measure how many calls you're taking, isn't it? Your coworkers who brusquely dispose of every caller are therefore top performers, while those who spend time being courteous and actually listening to customers' needs will be reprimanded for long talk times.
6) CPI (Continuous Performance Improvement). Here's a case of Americans taking a good Japanese idea and spoiling it in the translation (that's how we got the Dodge Colt, by the way). Instead of striving to continually provide BETTER service, management will strive to answer more and more calls with fewer and fewer employees. They'll mutter nonsensical phrases like "Raise the bar!" and "Work smarter, not harder!" as they lay off or transfer half the department away, then crack the whip over the few of you that are still there.

Get out, Bastard! I got out three years ago, and I'm still bitter. I hate telephones. I won't answer my phone at work. Get out! Get out!

Greg, that perfectly describes the work environment here. Always trying to be more efficient, and caring less and less about customers. At least most of the people I work with are cool, but the job still sucks. I think I WILL start looking around for a different job. Take care....

ChadMan is right. It's the nature of the job, not you. But will your job eventually wear on you until you become a person you don't like. Is the money worth that much to you?

During the time of looking for a new job (get the NEW job before quitting), take more moments like you did to refresh. Music helps, too. Try Grieg's piano concerto in A minor. Really. You will feel (temporarily) much better. You are familiar with part of this piece of music, I'm sure. You will recognize it when you hear it. Good luck!

Hey, Doc! I don't supposed you have a website with that on there, do you? I need some of that right now.

Sorry, Monkeyman, no website. They can't give classical music away, though, so a cd of it would cost about 2 dollars. You should try playing it in the store during the day. I bet the customers wouldn't be so crabby. They probably wouldn't buy as much, though. There is a whole interesting psychology behind music in stores and purchases made.

I worked my way through college as an university police officer (was in military police prior to that). Talk about high stress! Worked mainly the midnight shift and pretty much had to deal with the scum of the earth night after night. No matter how hard you tried, more drunks, thieves, a$$holes, vandals, and other low lifes would be out prowling around the next night. Of course, all the good citizens and students were sleeping and I didn't see them much. After a while, you start thinking everyone is a criminal and a liar. You became bitter and suspicious and unhappy. I am so glad to be out of that scene, but it did change me. I'm much more cynical and callous now, even 10 years later. Don't stay in a job that makes you unhappy. I turned down a promotion where I work right now because I knew it would be more headaches and because it was not the type of work I enjoyed compared to what I do now. A little extra money was not worth it. Follow your heart. Find happiness.

Damn! You guys sound so stressed out. I'm at work right now listening to some Pink Flloyd working on some circuit boards when I'm not on the computor farting around. The hippie dude here would never pass a test poppy seeds or not. Man the high tech enviroment doesn't have to be so screwed. Today is our bagel day. Everybody has poppy seeds in them now. Well..... I think I'll get back to work now (yawn). The card game at break was good too. From Cyberdata, I bid you all a good day.

Telephone sales are fun if you enjoy what you sell. Guess what I sell. TOOLS, WELDERS, CRANES ETC. It's fun and I make a good living at it. Sure, you have a punk every once in awhile, but most of the people are easy to deal with. Check out our website. It is www.fmmafco.com I am not on there yet, but I will let you know when I am. If i could grubt like Tim Taylor, I would. Whoo Hoo.

I just posted this in another thread, but it seems appropriate for this one, too.

I have sold photo equipment for nearly a decade, now, and its surprising how far a mildly flip attitude can take you. A typical exchange happened this past week. A father and daughter came in, she with a point and shoot which had stopped working. "There's a roll of film in it." the father told me, a point that I already knew. "We don't want the film exposed."

"Well," I told the father, "I'll be quite careful when I hit it with my hammer."

"Oh," said dad, "you're a real comedian, aren't you?"

"No, sir." I replied. "I'm an imitation comedian. The real one has the day off."

The daughter, who was quite cute (but too young, and I'm too married), smiled. The camera got fixed, of course, without any further input from dad (except payment.).

As I see it, you could get bored with any job. But you could just as easily enjoy any job....

BTW, I'm a Webmaster, now. www.cameraco.com It's a little harder to be flip via E-Mail, but I'm working on it....

Dang, you guys make me happy that I don't have to deal with customers. I don't have the world's greatest social skills anyhow, so it's probably for the best. Guess I'll just stick to smashing around thousands of tons of railroad cars and cargo for about 35 or so hours per week to the tune of $50K or so a year. Good thing I happen to like it, too!

To BN Boomer; that isn't "Burlington Northern" is it?
Say, thanks for giving all of us at Boeing your old "people pal", Mr. Dagnon!
The engineering life is wonderful. The coffee machine is at my left elbow, and the bathroom is only 50 feet away, which explains my sunny personality!
A hearty wave to all Fiero owners!