Customer Service
Working in public service, I'm very aware that bad service is often the result of bad policies that a customer service representative has to enforce, rather than just plain bad service. Usually the poor person is trying so hard to enforce a bad policy, and has put up with so much crap about the policies, that by the end of their shift, they're just plain mad about everything. Also, some people are just really mean, and it's very difficult to absorb the bad karma from one really nasty person and turn around and just be nice to the next person. It's actually near impossible. You have to be a yoga-master to emanate enough inner-peace to calm someone who happens to be angry already, and then not let their anger upset you enough to be angry at the next person. Anger is much more catching than inner-peace.
So, having said that....
A few mornings ago I got a slip in the mail that the carrier tried to deliver a package and failed. Usually they leave the package with the super, but this slip didn't say anything, so I headed over to the post office the next morning, as soon as they opened (before work). I arrived at 8:05, and there was a line of people. There were two windows-- one for sending mail and the other for picking up mail. There was someone at the sending mail window, but nobody at the picking up mail window. So, I waited. A few people muttered about how this always happens and left the line. At 8:10 we asked the guy at the other window where the person was for our window. He said the person was here but couldn't leave his window to do anything about it. So, at 8:15 I called the 1800-post office number on the slip and asked them to call the post office and ask the post office workers to come to the window and help us out. They couldn't dial out, so instead I just registered a complaint. At 8:20, I'm about to give up when a person finally shows up at the window. She wordlessly takes my slip and walks away. At 8:30 I'm wondering where she is, and this other guy comes out. I ask him what happened and he explains that it takes a while to find the packages. At 8:35 I ask him for help and he says, "what do you want me to do about it?" so I ask him to help her find my package. He shrugs, but otherwise ignores me. At 8:40 she finally comes out and says she has no idea where my package is. I have to go to work, and there's a long angry line behind me. So, I just leave. On my way back into the building, the super's wife lets me know there's a package for me!