I have done a considerable amount of customer service, and generally, I enjoy that process because I enjoy people, especially since I have consistently worked on my Spanish and people want to be able to communicate what they want. Unfortunately, I have noticed a troubling trend among many people who seem to want to be offered the moon while rejecting the offer, and pay nothing for the experience. Entitled individuals have taken the fun out of a job that used to be centered around problem-solving and everyone, including the worker, ending the engagement with a smile. There is nothing “old-fashioned,” “traditional,” or “wholesome” about demanding that people work for free and without any appreciation for the effort that is expended. In fact, there is a rather unsavory name for that practice.
Within the United States, there is an aging population, and too many members of that population are under the impression that the middle-class lifestyle they received for the last few decades should be maintained without having to change how they move. Back in the day, secretaries and phone operators made enough money to keep a home together, and everyone left at a reasonable hour. That is not the case anymore, but many members of that aging population seem to not be able to let that go. Almost all of them want to talk to humans, are “bad” with technology despite ownership, and want everyone to hold their hands through every process they have involving a computer. Many of my own experiences have taken sharp downturns when someone has refused to take “no” for an answer.
Additionally, no one wants to pay anything for any services, but they want all the services and whine when they are required to expend resources to attain them. So many complain about AI when that is the consequence of wanting free service, which is why people need to start explaining that costs put humans on the phone and in chats, instead of algorithms. Software changes and processes evolve, but they still believe that everyone should maintain the systems from their earlier days. One of my former coworkers said that taxes will always be able to be mailed, but I explained that folks will be expected to adapt because nobody wants to pay for the staff to keep a mailroom running. It is as if nobody explained that humans need food, clothing, and shelter, and none of those things is being offered for free, despite the promotional offers.
Finally, everyone talks about the person who wronged them, but nobody talks about who did everything they could, solved the problem, and made a day slightly better. In a world of bullies and abusers, everyone is trained to pay attention to horrible people, and the kind workers are just considered simps. Most of the people who promise to offer good reviews forget, and no matter how short the surveys are, people rarely fill them out, even though customer service representatives are graded on how much people like them. Therefore, people expect the world for free every time they interact with another human being, and refuse to show gratitude when they receive it. And everyone wonders why AI is taking over all the entry-level jobs.
Society needs to change and empires need to fall, and nobody can convince me otherwise. However, the humans within the empire need to recognize that they are only the main characters of their own stories, and not the center of everyone else’s world. Nothing is free, everything costs money, and instead of complaining about costs, maybe the time has come to address those charging the fees, instead of alienating the front lines. Wanting to be helped with empathy and real human engagement involves recognizing the humanity of the workers, as well as oneself.
Chasing A Dying Empire 