PSA: Help Us Help You

One of the jobs I work requires me to look up people by name, birthday, phone number, etc. It's not a difficult thing to do unless the customer makes it difficult. Which happens more often than one would imagine.

A customer comes to me for service and I immediately look to retrieve their information by asking for a name. First and last and I only use the first three letters of each. So when you arrive and I ask who you're picking up for, "Me" is not going to help me help you. I know you've been to see me before, probably numerous times, so you know the routine. Give me your first and last name, or the name of the person whose product you're getting. "Mary" won't cut it. You're not the only Mary in the world.

But here is where more difficulty appears. I'll ask for a name and get "Caleb Smith" as an answer. Great. I type in the first three letters of each. CAL, SMI. Nobody appears. I ask for a birthday. I get 06,09,2003. Excellent. Oops. Something's wrong. No account appears. I try asking again to confirm the information. Caleb Smith? "Yes." June 9, 2003? "Yes." Nothing comes up. When I explain this to the customer they insist that the information is correct and that they have an order waiting.

Okay, let's try again. Confirm the birthday again. June 6, 2003. "Yes." Spell Smith. I get an eyeroll and a sigh. S-M-I-T-H. Okay, just checking. Spell Caleb. Even bigger eyeroll and sigh. K-H-A-L... WAIT! WHAT? You spell Caleb KHALEB and you're getting annoyed with me for not knowing that? Are you serious? Most everyone else spells Caleb the conventional way. You decided to spell it some unconventional way and expect everyone to know that in advance?

I can't tell you how many people come to me and then get annoyed that I can't spell Annita, or Maygahn, or Kiyleigh or Mikel without assistance. Do us a favor. If the name you're giving me isn't spelled the conventional way, SPELL IT FOR ME so we don't waste each other's time. There is a line building up behind you and the faster I get your information, the faster I can get you through the line and move on to the next customer.

And while we're here, let me just mention to all of you younger people that we older people do, in fact, now that months correlate with numbers. January is one (1), February is (2) and so on down the line. You are allowed to say that your birthday is June 6, 2003 without having to say zero six, zero nine, two zero zero three. I actually had a mid-20s kid begin his birthday with November, then stopped and said 11... So I did point out, politely but firmly, that I do know that months have numbers. His response, "Oh, I wasn't sure." And he was dead serious.

So in the best interest of all of us involved, please spell your name if it has an odd spelling, and say your birthday as if you believe I have a decent level of intelligence. It'll move the process along faster so you can get your order and get back to the phone call that you just couldn't ignore while trying to interact with me.

Until next time...peace to all.

Please Knock First

I have to talk about this because it makes me insane. Public restrooms. The ones that are single use, just one room with a toilet and sink. One person only. Why do people not knock before trying the door? It's basic common courtesy to knock before trying to enter a closed room.

I can't tell you how many times I've been in the restroom at either of my jobs, or just out at a store, and someone has come along and tried to enter, just assuming that nobody was in there. Why are you making that assumption? It's actually quite startling to the person using the facilities to suddenly hear someone trying to enter the bathroom. Thoughts popping up in rapid succession. "Did I lock the door?" "I hope that lock works." "Please don't let that door open." "ACK!!" What the heck, people?

When you are at home and the bathroom door is closed do you just assume nobody is in there and try to open the door? If you do try, is the door locked by the person in there or do you cause an embarrassing situation for both of you? "Oops! Heh heh. Sorry." as you back out while closing the door. Nobody wants to be caught in that position so the proper thing to do is to knock before attempting to open the door. I always knock first, at home and in public. I don't understand why everybody doesn't follow that process. What's so difficult about it?

And if you're in the bathroom and someone does knock, how do you respond? I've just said whatever I could think of on such short notice. "Someone's in here." "Occupied." "Hold on, I wasn't expecting company." Is there a proper way to let someone know the facilities are in use? It's hard to come up with something in that situation, right? I mean, you're not exactly at your best and the person outside knows it. It's actually kind of creepy when you think about it. Especially when you indicate your presence and you know that stranger is now standing outside the door listening to you do your business. Now you have to keep everything quiet because you've lost your privacy. Yikes!

I'm also not sure if most people realize it but single-use bathrooms can be used by anyone, regardless of the fact that they are labeled "Men" and "Women". Nobody else is in there so who cares who's using it? I do it all the time. If someone is in the women's room, I'll use the men's room as long as it's empty. It's not a big deal. It's the same exact room, most of the time. There are some men's rooms that have a urinal also installed but I have no interest there. Some friends and coworkers I have spoken to refuse to use the other bathroom, but I do know others who will use whichever restroom is available since they know they'll be in there alone. Provided the next person who comes along actually knocks first. Hint, hint!

Until next time...peace to all.

Making a Comeback

It's been well over a year since I've been here. I've been busy. Working, working, and more working. Two jobs is a tough gig but someone's gotta do it. Sometimes I feel like all I do is eat, sleep and work. Lots of people do it and it sucks that we have to work so much just to survive. But it is what it is.

On my only day off, Saturday, I sit and relax my happy ass on the sofa and watch movies and color on an app on my phone. It's the best way I know to just reset, rejuvenate, and realign. I try not to think about what's coming in the next week - not work, not bills, not appointments, nothing. Sometimes it's necessary just to keep going. It's actually pretty nice but I often think there are other things I could be doing. More productive things, like cleaning the garage or the basement, or steam cleaning the sofas, or any number of things that need to be done around the house. I just don't have the ambition and don't want to waste my only day off with chores.

But starting next month I'll be granted one Sunday off per month, at my request, because I've missed having two days off in a row. With the extra day off I can spend one doing chores and the other relaxing so I'll get things done that need done, and still have time to do nothing if I so choose. But I know I've also missed being here so I'm going to find a way to get back to my blogging on a regular basis. There are always things I want to talk about but never seem to find the time. I don't even know what inspired me to start today. It must be the universe telling me it's time.

So I just thought I'd come back and do a short "welcome back to me" post to get things going. I know it's not much but it'll do for now. For the rest of today I'm going to watch a few more movies, color a few more pictures, and think about what I'd like to talk about in the future. And I'm going to sit here and breathe, knowing that everything always works out the way it's supposed to.

Until next time...peace to all.