The Phone Bank

Been hearing about the job reports and the employment rate yet hearing about layoffs so I wondered. All the numbers and data and calculations what do they really mean. Are more people working? What kind of jobs do they have?

I have to base this only on my own experience in the workforce. I followed the perception that once hired by a company, the ideal was to strive to move up the corporate ladder but stay loyal to the ‘company’ until retaining years to get a gold watch and retire.

Certainly today the workforce moves about as the market changes. With that the jumpstart entrepreneur ventures and the freelancers can find employment for a while without benefits or a safety trampoline to put on an résumé for the next application that takes time and evaluation without any income.

When looking at numbers of jobs, one can forget what those jobs are. The childhood occupations of delivery newspapers on bikes or works at an uncle’s filling station pumping gas and washing the windshield are gone. Without advance education, exceptions from driving delivery or stocking shelving are few.

Which brings me to today’s event.

I called the city to report a leak in the water meter.

Sounds simple but this is what happen.

First I had to find the telephone number of the cities utilities to report the water puddle.

I was on my iPad and tried to find a way to search the Internet. I had my network connection but could not find a way to search, but kept trying and wiggled a round about find (without Siri) to a ‘Richmond’ site, except it was in Australia. A little more wrangling and found the ‘City of Richmond’ in my commonwealth but there was no Internet spot to place a request.

Unlike Amazon or eBay or Domino Pizza, there was no way to communicate with the city other than a telephone number.

The first call was busy. Is there only one phone that answers this number?

A few minutes later I tried the number again and got the suspected phone messenger. Still with some cogitation I tried to follow the instructions.

After hearing the Spanish translation the first alert was an emergency of a gas or water leak that would require evacuation and hundreds of bodies and vehicles to converge on my property for a puddle. The second notification was to pay a bill.

After several rounds of these instructions I fell back to the “o” plan and talk to a person.

Of course the message that all operators are busy and terrible music too loud to cause static came on so I settled down for a wait. Surprisingly Regina arrived on the line.

I listened closely but her message was bland and confused, but I got my message to her as politely as I could. She transferred me to dispatch. Thank you Regina.

Some more bad static and a person saying “Hello”

“Hello” I replied, not knowing whom this voice was.

Immediately he said, “Can you wait” and then background noise of an office discussion.

He (never acknowledged his name or position) asked the address and after spelling out the name of street, said someone would be out to look at it.

“Thank you sir” I said and hung up.

Today is 3/11 and unfortunately I feel I will be making this call again.

I made the same call last year. Didn’t ever see any city trucks and never had the street dug up as signs the problem was corrected, but here we are again. I have a competent plumber that could handle whatever mischief going on underground but this is a city problem.

Getting back to the original statement of employment. A phone bank is a pretty plushy job. Put on headphones and either enters calls or take calls. No heavy lifting or strenuous exercise. Click a mouse or a few keyboard strokes and you are done.

I’m not putting down the abuse these folks take. Hopefully it is being monitored and no in your face like the police.

It is the same as any retail interaction with the public. For that matter anyone who is asking for money will get their share of obnoxious responses and have to just smile.

My hope is that I won’t have to make a second or third call before I call my plumber to seal the leak.

It is strange that no one asked me my account number or phone number or said they would contact me? Maybe I was just talking to a tape machine?