Operator

I have been a jill-of-all-trades. One of my first jobs was picking cucumbers and sickling and hoeing weeds as a field hand through the summer months. I've been a gas-station attendant, a pinsetter in a bowling alley, and helped butcher chickens just to name a few of my work experiences. I've also spent a lot of time doing office work.

I'm going to date myself here - but lately I have been feeling a little like 'Ernestine' the telephone operator in the character sketch developed by Lily Tomlin 'back in the day'.

Her classic line "Is this the party to whom I am speaking?" always made me laugh, but I find it even more amusing in recent days. Most of the day I answer the phone, sometimes juggling several lines at once.

If you deal with the public, I'm sure you have experienced some challenges along the way. I work for a retail and wholesale business, and people call with all kinds of interesting questions. Of course we get the usual questions about our business, but many times a day I find myself answering questions that seem to come out of the blue.

'When I was a kid, my parents took me to this place that has a train set. Do you know where that is and what the hours are?"

"Uh, no."

"Well, do you have a number for them, then?"

Or how about the callers that need an address to put into their GPS system. "Okay, siiix, zerooo, zeroo - can you spell that for me?" and it takes them 7 or 8 minutes to plug in the address and they want you to 'Wait!" while they try figure out how to work their new toy!

I get lots of hang-ups and dial tones from lost calls (I think it's bad cell phone coverage) and of course, my favorite calls of all - telemarketers.

Have you noticed that sales people are getting more aggressive all the time? They really don't - or won't - understand the word 'no'. I am not without compassion for those who have the difficult task of trying to sell their company's product - especially over the phone. I applaud their fortitude, but it does make my job a lot tougher!

It makes me wonder, though, how pushy I might seem to other people when I determine to get my way and have my say.

I've talked about persistence before, but I think this is more like what Webster's describes as going on 'resolutely or stubbornly in spite of opposition, importunity, or warning'. ('Importunity' - 'the act of being overly persistent or troublesomely urgent'). While on the one hand, I don't want to be pushy and stubborn, on the other, I don't want to lose patience with people who are!

If we set ourselves a higher standard to reach for while offering grace to others who might not meet that standard, we might achieve that balance we strive for!

In the meantime, if anyone can think of another way to say, 'No, thank you" that might work the first time - let me know!

All for Him,

Missy