Swan (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} queenostara) wrote,@ 2009-06-01 22:45:00 |
|
Taking a break
From ranting about societal issues to rant about my day. Mr. Nice Christian Guy, you're just going to have to wait a little longer. You're such a pussy*, I'm sure that's no problem for you anyway.
The crap that pissed me of happened hours ago and I admit to still seething somewhat over it. I suppose it really all started last month when, to my horror, just before my boyfriend was to come up I was basically broke. I asked my sister if I could borrow some money, just a hundred dollars maybe so I could fill up my gas tank (I don't live particularly close to the airport you see) and so I could actually have some food here for my boyfriend and I to eat.
As it turned out, that was the wrong thing to do. Not only did she forget to deposit the money (which would have been fine had I not gone and you know, USED my debit card) but then when we found out about that (again, ok, not so great, but people make mistakes and one overdraft charge, no biggie) my sister decided to write a check from my parents. They were already going to write me a check for my rent anyway and so my sister just advised them to add on another hundred to the total to cover the charge and so I could have a bit of gas money. Which would have been great had the check not bounced. Which still would not have been so terribly tragic had all this bullshit not gone down while my boyfriend was here.
My parents pay my rent. They do. I'm lucky. And I'm grateful that they can give me the opportunity to get out of grad school without drowning in ocean upon ocean of loan money. My boyfriend knows this. Many people who know me know this. Still, it's not something I like to draw attention to mostly because though logically I know I shouldn't be, I'm still somewhat ashamed. So you can imagine how embarrassed I was to admit that not only am I completely dependent, I'm also flat broke, not the greatest at managing money (though by no means am I the worst) and am spawn of parents who continually overdraw their account because neither one of them bothers to a) balance their checkbook, b) actually write shit down or c) TELL each other that they're paying or buying things. I really do love them and I'm grateful for all they've done and continue to do for me. However, I still can't help being ashamed of their financial woes sometimes. I'm not proud of it really, and I don't think for a second it's because they warrant my thinking of them as "monetarily moronic", rather, our society has a really invasive and perverse ideology that if you're poor it's your own darn fault. That you're either lazy, stupid or a combination of both.
Which ties into, I'm sure, all the shame I felt when I had to be rejected by my own bank to cash my paycheck because of my overdraft charges and the shame I felt today when I went to a bank I don't even have an account at anymore just because it's closer to me and got told I owed them over $3000 and was glared at, treated poorly, talked to like I was a naughty three year old, and basically just humiliated for a mistake made by the bank, not by me. The reason I don't bank with them anymore (the bank is National City if you care to know) is because last year I was stolen from. I was a victim of identity theft. I closed the account last year and was reimbursed over $1500 just this past January and March. So this bullshit they came up with I found out later after my sister called them (because I was too hysterical) was from last year, already sorted out, and not at ALL something they needed to make me experience was something I got to be treated like shit over. Can just I say that even if I DID owe the bank this money (which I didn't) I deserve to be treated poorly?
We've all been there with that "trashy problem customer" with that certain "history" (well, all of us who've worked in a customer service environment) and I'm guilty of being less considerate to customers I assume to be worse customers. It's something I've been trying to be conscious about fixing because the more I feel that humans deserve to be treated with courtesy regardless of others' perceptions about them the more I try to look at every situation and question my own assumptions.
And the conclusions I've drawn are this:
1. That customer is a human being
2. That customer has feelings
3. That customer deserves to be treated as kindly as your best
4. That customer isn't stupid (regardless of what you might think) and can tell when you're being an asshole
5. see 2
6. That customer knows his/her situation a lot fucking better half the time than you do
7. That customer is probably just having a really hard time and regardless of their history could very well just be getting screwed by the system. We all know computers and workers at institutions fuck up. Accept that possibility and investigate it
8. That customer deserves to be treated well even if all your worst suspicions are true. It's not in your job description to be a condescending asshole or pass judgment and you'd do well to remember that
9. That customer doesn't need shit from his/her fellow customers. If you're standing in line behind that customer be patient. It's hard, I know, but keep from glaring or muttering under your breath. Your opinion isn't needed and you're not helping. It's not in your life description to shame someone into what you deem acceptable financial stability.
I know this probably sounds like too much. It probably sounds like pansy ass, hippie pinko bullshit that encourages poor people to be lazy and stupid. But it doesn't matter. What matters is you shut up and be a decent human being to your fellow human beings. Because with times this shitty and banks this determined to not cash any check that comes their way that person who's just having a really fucking bad day could be you next.
*Using this word in jest, I don't really appreciate the fact that one of the worst insults for a male is a slang word for female genitalia, however, I felt it worked best for the sort of irony I was trying to achieve.
From ranting about societal issues to rant about my day. Mr. Nice Christian Guy, you're just going to have to wait a little longer. You're such a pussy*, I'm sure that's no problem for you anyway.
The crap that pissed me of happened hours ago and I admit to still seething somewhat over it. I suppose it really all started last month when, to my horror, just before my boyfriend was to come up I was basically broke. I asked my sister if I could borrow some money, just a hundred dollars maybe so I could fill up my gas tank (I don't live particularly close to the airport you see) and so I could actually have some food here for my boyfriend and I to eat.
As it turned out, that was the wrong thing to do. Not only did she forget to deposit the money (which would have been fine had I not gone and you know, USED my debit card) but then when we found out about that (again, ok, not so great, but people make mistakes and one overdraft charge, no biggie) my sister decided to write a check from my parents. They were already going to write me a check for my rent anyway and so my sister just advised them to add on another hundred to the total to cover the charge and so I could have a bit of gas money. Which would have been great had the check not bounced. Which still would not have been so terribly tragic had all this bullshit not gone down while my boyfriend was here.
My parents pay my rent. They do. I'm lucky. And I'm grateful that they can give me the opportunity to get out of grad school without drowning in ocean upon ocean of loan money. My boyfriend knows this. Many people who know me know this. Still, it's not something I like to draw attention to mostly because though logically I know I shouldn't be, I'm still somewhat ashamed. So you can imagine how embarrassed I was to admit that not only am I completely dependent, I'm also flat broke, not the greatest at managing money (though by no means am I the worst) and am spawn of parents who continually overdraw their account because neither one of them bothers to a) balance their checkbook, b) actually write shit down or c) TELL each other that they're paying or buying things. I really do love them and I'm grateful for all they've done and continue to do for me. However, I still can't help being ashamed of their financial woes sometimes. I'm not proud of it really, and I don't think for a second it's because they warrant my thinking of them as "monetarily moronic", rather, our society has a really invasive and perverse ideology that if you're poor it's your own darn fault. That you're either lazy, stupid or a combination of both.
Which ties into, I'm sure, all the shame I felt when I had to be rejected by my own bank to cash my paycheck because of my overdraft charges and the shame I felt today when I went to a bank I don't even have an account at anymore just because it's closer to me and got told I owed them over $3000 and was glared at, treated poorly, talked to like I was a naughty three year old, and basically just humiliated for a mistake made by the bank, not by me. The reason I don't bank with them anymore (the bank is National City if you care to know) is because last year I was stolen from. I was a victim of identity theft. I closed the account last year and was reimbursed over $1500 just this past January and March. So this bullshit they came up with I found out later after my sister called them (because I was too hysterical) was from last year, already sorted out, and not at ALL something they needed to make me experience was something I got to be treated like shit over. Can just I say that even if I DID owe the bank this money (which I didn't) I deserve to be treated poorly?
We've all been there with that "trashy problem customer" with that certain "history" (well, all of us who've worked in a customer service environment) and I'm guilty of being less considerate to customers I assume to be worse customers. It's something I've been trying to be conscious about fixing because the more I feel that humans deserve to be treated with courtesy regardless of others' perceptions about them the more I try to look at every situation and question my own assumptions.
And the conclusions I've drawn are this:
1. That customer is a human being
2. That customer has feelings
3. That customer deserves to be treated as kindly as your best
4. That customer isn't stupid (regardless of what you might think) and can tell when you're being an asshole
5. see 2
6. That customer knows his/her situation a lot fucking better half the time than you do
7. That customer is probably just having a really hard time and regardless of their history could very well just be getting screwed by the system. We all know computers and workers at institutions fuck up. Accept that possibility and investigate it
8. That customer deserves to be treated well even if all your worst suspicions are true. It's not in your job description to be a condescending asshole or pass judgment and you'd do well to remember that
9. That customer doesn't need shit from his/her fellow customers. If you're standing in line behind that customer be patient. It's hard, I know, but keep from glaring or muttering under your breath. Your opinion isn't needed and you're not helping. It's not in your life description to shame someone into what you deem acceptable financial stability.
I know this probably sounds like too much. It probably sounds like pansy ass, hippie pinko bullshit that encourages poor people to be lazy and stupid. But it doesn't matter. What matters is you shut up and be a decent human being to your fellow human beings. Because with times this shitty and banks this determined to not cash any check that comes their way that person who's just having a really fucking bad day could be you next.
*Using this word in jest, I don't really appreciate the fact that one of the worst insults for a male is a slang word for female genitalia, however, I felt it worked best for the sort of irony I was trying to achieve.
