It has been 48 hours since I asked an online customer service rep to address a problem with the company's website. The details are not really important but suffice it to say that this is not that different from a half dozen or more other interactions I have had in the last year or so. Since resolution of my problem does not seem likely to come anytime soon, my choices are to write about it or take it out on those around me. My family is ever so grateful I have elected to spout off in writing,
The question so many in America fail to ask is what happens when someone does not have a more socially acceptable outlet through which to vent a growing level of frustration? Do we as a public even understand how frustrating our economy is? Is violence a "gun" problem or a "lifestyle" problem? It might be time to look at violence in this country as something more than a second amendment right.
Unapologetic Stubbornness
From the President all the way down to the fast food worker who cannot seem to get your order straight, there is an unapologetic stubbornness that makes it difficult to not feel angry. Patience may be a virtue but it looks like procrastination when addressing a problem. The first amendment gives citizens the right to express an opinion--not to assume that opinion is more valuable than others and not for other viewpoints to be sidelined because it isn't profitable. With politicians taking a stand of division, why would businesses, medical staff, and even families feel the need to solve a problem rather than to dig in their heels and wait until the other party gives in. if a coin has two sides then more than likely a problem has two sides as well. How many times have worker's been killed on the job because of a simple issue that was not handled well? How many times did a shooting take place at a family gathering because an old wound had never healed? Is it worth being right if it causes someone's death?
Accountability Avoidance
Have you ever noticed that customer service personnel are willing to help as long as it means putting the blame on someone/thing else? The Internet company encourages buying a new router even though they know the problem is over booking customers. The drug company that treats side effects with yet another drug. Then there is the return policy for a company who says to throw merchandise away instead of sending it back. Don't customers just pay for that waste in the end? Another example is using blanket "terms of use" clauses to add surcharges and unauthorized services to a medical or repair bill. "You signed the agreement, ma'am." Who wouldn't feel betrayed when treated poorly by licensed and trusted companies?
Poor Training/ Lack of Skills
Of all that is written here, the lack of training and skills for those in customer service positions is concerning. Given a script to follow instead of training and knowledge about what they are talking about, service representatives have to be in the position of being harasses by people who just want answers. Companies do not seem to understand that, even if the situation is resolved, the lack of confidence in these representatives leaves an impression of poor quality. There is no substitute for good communication and it cannot be faked with a script provided by the legal department. This goes for email blitzes as well as mail ads. The cost to business is high when customer servie is poor.
Artificial Jobs Stimulation
Since Truman used jobs and infrastructure to provide work for families during the Great Depression, this political move has been the go-to battle cry for everything from high immigration to climate change. As long as government promotes jobs as the answer to all ills, there will never been enough jobs to quell the country's irrational fear of less than full employment. Rather than support a knowledgeable and skilled workforce that is well paid, the country seems to prefer a world of inefficiency, poor quality imports, and low paying wages. Is there any real difference between one burger joint and another? Do we really need another brand of green beans in the grocery store? Do workers really want to pay a third of their wages to support a for-profit medical community that seems to rely on one more drug or test?
How much does all of this contribute to the level of public anxiety when a full time job does not provide enough money to cover the bare essentials? People resorted to gun violence in the 1800s when businesses pitted one group of workers against another. Do leaders really think the American people are not as frustrated now as they were then? Even back then, people understood that when life was secure and relatively free of frustration, gun violence became a thing of the past. That did not come from police presence, gun controls or community patience, it came from creating a lifestyle that worked for everyone.
As long as the media and politicians stir the pot with emotional rhetoric and support for its one-size-fits-all practice of adding jobs to the economy, the violence in this country will continue. No amount of mental health care, gun control or patience will hide the insecurity and frustration that many Americans feel toward what is happening in daily life. Past solutions may have worked in the past, but this is not the past and it shouldn't be treated as if it were.