I was doing a little reading today and followed a Balloon Juice commenter’s link back to her blog. She had this post up about how she cancelled her Comcast service and some poor schlup had the job of calling her to ask for a bill payment. Unfortunately for him she’d cancelled her service and didn’t owe any money. She told how she cussed the dude out and the wrote that she would’ve felt bad for mistreating him except, you know, he works for Comcast.

Because, you know, job options are so plentiful right now, if one chooses to work for one of the worst companies in America, well, one would be a piece of shit who deserved verbal abuse.

Here’s the facts about this poor guy’s job:
He applied for some other teleservices company because he probably needed to pay his rent. I know, that’s shocking and god knows he should’ve been more vigilant. I mean, he really should’ve opted for homelessness instead of that kind of job. So anyway, he gets hired at this other company and, guess, what? Comcast has a contract with that particular company for customer service/tech support/billing/sales/collections. This guy didn’t apply to and get hired by Comcast. He applied to and got hired by a company to which Comcast outsources.

This chick is happily relating a tale of cussing out this Devil who dared to work for a company she disliked. Except he really doesn’t work for that company. And he if he didn’t need the fucking money he most assuredly wouldn’t be doing a job that put him in direct contact with bitches like her.

I do a similar job to this guy. I was damned lucky to find the job I have, but we are contracted with a major media company to do their teleservices. My job is tech support. I remove viruses and do network troubleshooting. What I do is not free support for the media company’s regular subscribers. When they call me looking for free support, I have to tell them to pay for the support. Sorry, but that’s my job. And assholes like the woman who was so proud that she cussed out a Comcast “employee” think if they are abusive to me, I’ll bend to the pressure. I’m lucky insofar as I can say “No”. And I’m at the point now where I take a little bit of pleasure of being able to say “I’m sorry but I’m not going to help you unless you pay” because of people who treat other people like she treated the guy whose suck-ass job requires him to collect on payments due (or supposedly due).

Just the other day I had some woman call up and tell me “You will help me or I’ll cancel my service.” I was almost giddy when I replied “I will NOT help you unless you pay the extra fee”. We went back and forth for a good 10 minutes like that. She thought if she bullied me I’d just give in to her. I’m lucky in that the company for which I work doesn’t require me to put up with verbal abuse. When people start cussing, I hang up. Too bad too sad, asshole.

With this particular company, every single department is outsourced to a separate company. Each company has their own policies and their own bunch of folks who are only looking to pay their bills. Each department receives a different amount of money and is expected to had a different amount of calls. Even the in-home service people, the ones that come out to fix shit, are contractors¹. We don’t sign up to actually work for these mega-corporations that piss you off so much– sometimes it just works out that the companies we do work for contract with those evil empires.

I appreciate the people that understand that I have rules to follow and I’m doing a job for someone else who makes the decisions. I will bend over backwards to help them in any way I can (without risking said job). The first time someone becomes aggressive with me, though, they get shut down. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if that guy she cussed out put her down for a callback at a later time. Why? To irritate her. Because he’s not the piece of shit in that scenario, she is. So, she’s annoyed that she got a call. Well, she could’ve very easily have said “Sorry. I cancelled the service and I’m not paying” and hung up. No, she had to take out her frustration with Comcast on some poor guy who didn’t deserve it (and from her version of events, he was polite to her). Folks like him don’t have a whole lot of tools in their arsenal to get back at assholes like her. God knows most of the time, the company doesn’t give a flying fuck how their employees get treated by the public at large (mine does and that’s what makes it awesome).

I have a friend who works for a company like that. It just happens that when people call that company they have to wait a long time to get a live person. If she senses that the person on the other end of the phone is going to start going off on her, she’ll disconnect the call. That quick. Oops. They’re forced to call back and wait on hold a little while longer. That might not be fair to the next customer service person who gets the call, but it irritates the rude customer to no end. That’s how she handles assholes and, really, who can blame her? Why should she have to listen to someone going off on her for something she has no control over?

I’m a little different when it comes to people like that because I’m allowed to tell the other person “I would appreciate it if you don’t cuss at me” and then disconnect if the abuse continues. I’m also allowed to explain that I will lose my job if I do any kind of service for free. Most people understand that and will calm down. Some folks don’t give a flying fuck and those are the people who tend to be abusive to the voice on the other end of the line. I guess for those people it doesn’t matter that they’re talking to people just trying to do a job to pay the bills.

On that note, I like my job. I like being able to do a job in my field (though a low-level job) and it’s shown me that I’ve been a little bit snobby in thinking that most people know how to use the intertoobz². I’ve gotten really good at losing the jargon and explaining things in really elementary terms. I think it’s hilarious when people get me and then say “I was supposed to be transferred to a technician” and I get to say “I am the technician”. That cracks me up every single time³. It makes me laugh when people call for help and then assume that they know more than me. And I love talking to people who are chatty and just want to be friends (those folks are awesome). The people like the one that got me to writing though? Pfft. They can fuck off.

It’s a good thing she can afford to work for The Most Awesomest Corporation Evar. Some of us are stuck doing what we can to get the mortgage paid. Sadly, that includes interacting with assholes like her.

1. Those guys are often independent contractors and get paid by the service call.
2. A surprising amount of people have no idea how to even get online without help
3. It happens a lot.

Now, you ask yourself: Why the hell is this chick worried about online time? I mean, shouldn’t I be taking my happy ass outside to get some sun. Well, I do. I take the kids outside and watch them run around, fight, run around, try to climb the fence, run around, and fight some more. Lil’lady is having a difficult time adjusting to the extra person in the house so she’s being a bit difficult with the fighting thing. At any rate, I get outside and sometimes I just want to be inside– the intertoobz.

As I’ve been writing this, my supervisors have sent three emails asking for people to come in a little early today. We’re backed up and they did a huge hiring ramp recently. I’m going in at 2 and going to work until 2. Sounds crazy, huh? But I can work those hours without going into a flare and without finding myself totally exhausted. I can chat with my colleagues and laugh at really stupid people and get paid some good money². Not only that, my supervisor is amazing and totally respectful. I really do like the company I’m working for, which is a huge plus for me. So, where was I? Um, I forget.

I’m going to start early today so I guess I’m done with my post for now. I’ve got to draw some pictures for a friend during the slow periods today. Multitasking queen, I am. Hopefully I’ll find some time tomorrow to add another post.

1. Little as in “3 years old” not little as in Tyrion.
2. Good money for BFE, Ohio, mind you. Which is enough to pay all my bills by myself without having to worry too much.

Last Friday I had three interviews. The first one was the technical stuff. I was so nervous and so afraid I was going to trip all over myself. I get tongue-tied in the worst way and that’s embarrassing. The lady I spoke to was really nice and understanding though. She helped me get comfortable and then told me I was in for the tech stuff. Then I had my other two interviews and they offered me the job. Woo hoo!

I started working yesterday. It was tons of fun. Lots of info about the company and our superiors, what’s expected of us and things like that. That was boring. But the people on my training team are super fabulous. They get the jargon and the meme talk and do stuff like compare the size of their monitors. It made me laugh when they did that. I told someone who doesn’t get geek humor and she was decidedly not impressed. Oh well, that was ok. Because my team mates and I got a great laugh out of it. I told them I couldn’t play that game because I don’t have the proper equipment.

My trainer and his supervisors are really laid back and understanding. He expects us to keep our ha-has to a minimum but will laugh right along with us. There was a serious, passionate conversation about a new processor coming out soon. I know this is typical for everyone else working in tech, but this is my first official w2 job in the industry so I’m all kinds of excited.

The guys in my class have taken to calling me “Jenny” without my prompting. I don’t know why because I introduced myself as “Jennifer”. But then some folks on Twitter call me “Jen” or “Jenn”² so whatever makes their boats float. We had an argument over which was better– Buffy or Charmed³– and someone commented that Buffy was “bomb-diggity”. I almost pee’d my pants. No lie. It was great. Also…I’m the only female in the class. I’ve taken to marking their silly jokes with “That must be an XY thing”. I’m positive it’s going to catch on soon.

I had a whole other take on this post before I got distracted by Google+ (I’m there!) and Twitter, but the general idea is I love this job. Well, the people I work with (so far). The pay is decent (entry level) and the benefits rock socks and I’m just glad to have a job, really. It’s not a glamorous position but I don’t even care about that. I get along great with my coworkers and my bosses are fabulous. I wish I could go into more detail but I signed a NDA, so there ya go.

I keep getting distracted by conversation on Google+, which means I’m probably done with this post. I’m really excited about that service and am planning a post just about it. Also a post about the stupid assholes on Twitter who are attacking Rachel Maddow⁴. I’ll have to do the Google+ post first though because I really like it. I follow tech people and early adopters mostly, so their conversation is interesting to me. It’s like Facebook, but better (for me) and less cluttered. No game invites or protest invites or spammy stuff– yet. Plus, I always get excited when there’s a new service. I’m hoping G+ gives Facebook a real run for their money. Man, I love to imagine Zuckerberg freaking out. Hey! If they didn’t do shady shit with our private info I wouldn’t hate them, but they do, so there.

1. Maybe I’ll do a private post for more info.
2. Don’t care for that spelling.
3. Guess where I was in that argument?
4. That one had me steaming today.

It’s only been two days that it was like that. All last week and the first couple days of this week were fine. I was able to get my hours in and do the work. I’ve lost two days of wages, though, and that is a huge problem.

So, I call Frontier¹ and talk to a really nice lady from Indiana. I tell her my problem and why it’s even worse than before. She schedules a test while we chit chat (she was nice and, honestly, it’s hard to find a nice customer service person, ya know?). Then she tells me that Frontier is upgrading their network in my area and that they should be done by the 15th. Fat lot of good that will do me, right? I’ve got to work! She tells me I’ll hear back in a day or two to see what’s going on with my line.

Well, yesterday everything seemed kosher. I was able to get online all day long. Then I went to login to my work. Kicked off. Not only that, but I was on the phone with someone and my phone disconnected. Motherfucker. I call Frontier back. They owe me money at this point. Well, I speak with another nice customer service person (two in a row!) and he sets me up with a tech to come out and look at shit. Sometime between 8am and 12, he says. This usually means that it’s closer to 3pm, right?

Wrong. The tech came at 9am on the dot. Holy shitballs! He comes in and takes a look at shit. Tells me that Frontier was renting bandwidth from Verizon, but Verizon was choking it. He said that Frontier is building their own network so they won’t have to use Verizon’s anymore. Awesome sauce, I say to him. Mostly because I’ve grown to really hate Verizon. Anyway, he explains that there’s a lot of congestion on the line right now while they get that network up. Unfortunately, the boss is only hooking up an initial 200k people to this new line. He explains that traffic will be super fast on that network initially, but that as people are moved over I’ll get a faster connection because fewer people are using it.

He gives me a brand new modem-router. I say “How much am I going to have to pay for that?”² Nothing. Not a dime. Do I want a second one? Cool beans! No, I don’t need a second one because my network isn’t that extensive, but the thought was nice. He hooks me up and then tells me to call him directly if I have any other problems.

Nice. I can also say that it was nice to talk about upload/download, packets, capacity and networks with someone. And it was nice that he talked to me about that stuff without thinking I was a big ol’ dummy. It was a nice conversation. I’m sad to report, though, that he’s married. *sigh*

Then the damned connection failed again. Fuckity fuck! He shakes his head. He needs to call his boss. So he does. Then he tells me:
“We’re moving you onto the new network today. That should really help.”

Hells yeah!

Do I think he’s half-bullshitting me? Yes, I do. I secretly think that they’re not really moving me to this new network and he’s completely pulling my leg. I’ll be able to tell later today for sure. But that didn’t really matter to me at the time. His bullshit was awesome. It made me happy and he seemed like he was doing me a favor. And he didn’t talk to me like I’m a walking, talking idjit. That means something, right?

Plus, this new router is fantabulous. It’s better than my Netgear. I hooked everything up and took my laptop outside and I get a fantastic signal all the way to the back of the yard. That works for me. But what works better for me is that Frontier didn’t charge me for it. Verizon made me pay $100 for the replacement modem they sent me when my original one failed. They refused to allow me to replace it for free. Every fucking thing costs fat cash. Not this time. Even if I’m getting fed bullshit, there’s something to be said about that.

Anyway, I’m impressed with their customer service overall. I don’t know if they’re going to do what they promise (yet) but I do know that everyone I spoke to was super nice and they did a lot to make me happy. The tech came on time and was respectful when he was here. My attitude toward customer service and other service personnel is respectful until they do something to piss me off, so maybe that had something to do with it. I didn’t call up the first time cussing them out and telling them they better fix my shit right now. I know the folks that I spoke with aren’t the bosses and they can only do what they can do. But every company doesn’t have service like that. We all know it, we’ve experienced it and we’ve hated it. So I’m giving props to Frontier on this one. Big props.

As often as I complain about this thing or that, I think it’s only fair to tell the stories of the good experiences I have with these companies, right? So, there ya go. I’m going to stick it out with Frontier even if my line doesn’t get fixed right away. Why? Because they actually treated me like a person and that counts for a whole lot in my book.

1. They bought out Verizon last year.
2. Verizon makes you pay for replacements.

So, my job is a telecommute position. That means I don’t have to go into work but I still get a pay check. No, I’m not a robo-calling monkey or whatever. But I do make pretty good money and I love it. I love it so much I could lick it. I mean, if it was possible to lick something like that. Anyway, I sit at my desk and do my job, which includes talking to real people on the phone. I have to behave professionally and do the job. I can’t be distracted or clock in but not work or have lots and lots of noise happening around me. It’s a requirement of the job (did I mention I love it?). I need to set up a home office, of course, but right now I can’t do that. Right now I’ve just got my regular office– desktop, phone, fax machine, printer, chair, desk– in the middle of the house. This has been working fine. Lil’lady minds me well while I’m talking on the phone and He doesn’t bother me. I just have to make sure that the people that don’t live in this house don’t bother me during business hours. So, I did what anyone would do.

I put signs on my front and back door when I’m working. The signs read:

Please do NOT knock on the door OR ring the bell.
I’m working from home and can NOT be disturbed.
Thank you.

That’s pretty easy to understand, right? I’m not writing that in a language other than English, right? Apparently, we’re all smoking crack. That is not in plain English. And the emphasize red words? That’s the crack making you think those are important words. And it’s not really red. You just think that. Shoot, even I imagined that I created those words in red font.

Today I’m happily sitting at my desk, doing my job and loving it, when the freaking doorbell goes off. I don’t have one of those simple “Ding Dong” bells. Nope. I have a bell that goes on for about 10 seconds. And it’s loud. An old fashioned, loud bell that has a tune (of sorts)¹. It’s nice, actually. That’s the back door bell. It’s different from the front doorbell. Fancy stuff. So, I’m sitting there and I hear “Dong, di, dong, dong, dong, ding…”– loud as fuck. Then I get mad. Seriously?

I look and it’s Lil’ Sis. Sure enough. She’s doing The Mother’s bidding. They came to pick up their mail and totally ignored the sign. Mostly because I thought it was in plain English but it was actually in Japanese (or maybe Russian). It was all my fault, I’m sure. I’m like the characters in “Dr. Who”, everything translates magically from a foreign language to my language, even when I’m writing in another language. Right? All my fault! I mean, I didn’t really want to be left alone while I work. And I don’t really have a job anyway, because I don’t leave the premises to do the job. Sure, I get a pay check and I have a boss and I have rules, but it’s not serious because it’s not a real fucking job. And no one can see me so they don’t know if I’m fucking around and so what if someone on the phone hears the doorbell and complains? I can’t get fired if I’m not leaving the house to go to my made up job.

Right?

I got mad and ran down to answer the door. I pointed at my sign and said “When I put that sign up it means don’t ring the bell because I’m working.” Then I went back to work. Did I get an apology? Nope. Did anyone act the slightest bit guilty for completely disrespecting me and my job? Of course not. It was my fault, don’t ya know, for expecting anyone to take my job seriously. I get the look that says “why the fuck are you getting mad at me?” I was really shocked that she would disregard my boundaries in such a blatant way. As if she can just cross that line and I’ll be fine with it. Nope, not going to be fine. I’m going to get pissed and she’s going to know why I’m pissed. This is serious business as far as I’m concerned.

I finally found a way to make some money and actually love the job and still… Funny, though, it’s not TheMan that’s not taking it seriously. He leaves me alone and keeps Lil’lady out of my hair while I’m working. Millie will call and leave me a message on my cellphone when I’m working. But The Mother will have Lil’ Sis ring the bell when the sign is up. She also doesn’t understand why she can’t call the house phone while I’m working. I take my job very seriously (well, as seriously as I can when one of my coworkers is sending me funny messages on IM², but she’s working on the same thing so she knows what’s what) and I don’t like it when someone else doesn’t respect that.

At any rate, that’s what I’ve been doing. In my very limited free time I’ve been watching every episode of “Dr. Who” and “Torchwood” that I can get my hands on. I fell into this new obsession, by the way, when I was feeling sorry for myself. I’d never really gotten into either of these programs much until recently. I’m watching the Eleventh Doctor series now. I think I liked the guy before David Tennant the best, though. He was sexier, anyway.

And now, back to my second job. This is more along the lines of what I like to do and I’m making more money now than I was a year ago doing the same thing (which is not enough to pay any bills, but way more than zero). I like it too, but I’ve discovered that this new job I’m doing is something I like a lot better. I don’t know why that is. There’s just something really rewarding and I love it. Hmmm… Both of these streams of income actually allow me to be productive but don’t cause me to flare too much or have to be on disability. That rocks my freaking socks.

That is all.

1. I might actually record it and upload it.
2. Like chit chat at work and it’s hilarious