I actually snapped this outside my house about four years ago.
Tornado's FASCINATE me! They scare the living crap out of me but fascinate me. Several of my friends call me weather girl and call for updates during a storm. Some make fun of me (including Emily lol) but here is what I have learned after being in three various tornado's. They are like the ocean. They are big, vast, and amazing but they deserve our respect! They can wipe out life in a second and you need to be prepared.
Our electricity went out for a quick period last night and as we were running with flashlights to get the oxygen tanks I decided I would be proactive today. We have the threat of very severe storms again tonight and tomorrow. So I contacted our electric company to ask them to list us as critical for electric since a lot of Jude's life support measures are dependent on electricity. I sent a letter via fax explaining the situation signed it and then cc'd hospice and Jude's doctor. After I faxed the letter it took probably fifteen minutes and I got a call from the electric company. The customer service agent explained that to list Jude as critical they had to have a letter on letterhead signed by the physician or otherwise they wouldn't mark him critical. I get it......people lie all the time, it's sad but they do. However after I hung up the phone and started the process of getting a physician to take the time to send this over I began to think. Sometimes I feel the customer service in our amazing country is lacking. I try so hard at my work to go the extra mile for people. Although I understand why they need the letter I thought about the call itself. If she had said "Ms Ortiz we need physician confirmation to authorize this change so may I have a number to call the doctor?" or "I need to get a letter of confirmation, may I have the number to the hospice company to request one and then I can follow up with you". What a difference I would have felt. I would have been so impressed with her company. Rather than feeling like I have yet another step just to get something accomplished for my son who is fighting so hard. I am not upset so I don't want anyone to think I am. I am merely expressing an opinion on the subject and how the situation made me feel. My husband says I am irrational because I expect people to act like I do. Maybe he is right or maybe society has just gotten so busy in today's world that we have forgotten how to be nice. I feel some businesses have made so many changes to the way they handle customer service that we as a people now lack that personal touch we used to have. I can remember the days with my parents as a child when people would pump our gas for us. There was a time when our groceries were carried out of the grocery store and loaded into our vehicles. These things aren't needed and probably take up to much time but they were so nice. I have clients that tell me all the time they pay a higher premium just for the customer service my office provides. We aren't perfect but we do try.
Jude was doing well until yesterday at about 3:30pm. Since then he has had some issues including a fever that Charlotte walked into today. We will see how the weekend goes.
2 comments:
As someone that has "done" customer support for many years I can tell you from experiance that 98%if the people we deal with day to day are irrational jerks. I have had people greet me by saying "Listen, bitch, I want you to..." Really? That's how people say hello now a days?? It's easy to be on the defense all the time when working customer service especially on the phone where you are "just" a voice. As far as the letter goes. I know where I work I'm not able to contact 3rd parties (doctors, lawyers, banks) on the customers behalf. So it's possible that even if the person you spoke to wanted to help by reaching out for you they couldn't due to internal policies.
and that's exactly my point. We have made so many internal changes to keep up with our busy industries that we have lost the personal touch we once had. In addition people have become so jaded that they tend to lash out more than just listen.
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