Comcast and the Call Center Universe....

There's something else I'd rather talk about than having heard the interview on radio this morning.

When I first got up, I wandered out to the computer room with my eyes half closed and my usual stumbling around like I'm drunk routine. Glancing over at the computer, I noticed that there were only 20 emails waiting which is about one fifth (okay.. no more drinking references) of what I usually have.

The Internet was down.

I have Comcast High Speed and there has only been one time when it had anything to do with our network here. It's usually an area-wide outage.

I got on the phone. Not always the best idea when I first wake up. If I'm going to be cranky, it's always first thing. Getting up, being half blind and trying to orient myself to time and place is a challenge. I admit it.

After getting through the multi-layered call distribution system (yes, I want to speak English, yes, my Internet is down, yes, I booted my modem, yes, I rebooted my system.. you bloody bastard!), punching ones and twos and using the f-word a time or two, I finally got a human being, a real person and he was in this country.

Glory be! Blessings abound!

I told him the situation and he suggested a few things to me. I tried them. Still no Internet. He told me that he could send out a technician tomorrow.

"Not an option," I said. One of my housemates is a tax preparer and she needs the Internet to e-file for her clients.

We went 'round and 'round about that for a few minutes and he finally flicked a switch or something. For some reason, he was able to find me an appointment for this morning.

Glory be!

But the interesting thing about this interaction is that we began chatting off-topic. Since I know something about call centers, I told him to turn off the recording device since I know supervisors listen in unless the customer says he or she does not want to be recorded.

He caught on. He's a sharp .. dare I say it? ... dude.

He told me how he had been an executive level credit department manager until a few years ago when his company outsourced. He lost his job. His wife is ill. His son was murdered a few years ago.

This guy has tolerated more in 3 years than most of us can tolerate in a lifetime!

He's 60 years old. Due to corporate outsourcing, he has lost his pension, lost his house in Southern California and now finds himself in West Texas working at some lousy call center for 9.00 an hour.

"That's just plain wrong," I said. "It's worse than wrong. It's amoral!"

He knew what I was saying and we continued talking in an unspoken code. He knew I understood his situation and he knew how incensed I was about it. He appreciated the understanding. I could tell. It was something in his voice.

"How's your wife doing with all this," I asked.

He told me that his wife has had a very hard time accepting the death of their son. She's attempted suicide more than once.

She's bipolar.

She's trying to get SSDI.

SSDI would make their world such a better place to live. Even a measly $1500.00 a month on her end would make his salary and her income into a liveable financial situation. As he said, "At least I could take her out to dinner occasionally."

I should mention here that I am a fairly decent judge of character and I believed every word this guy said.

I asked about his wife's SSDI process and how far along she's gotten, etc. He told me.

When I went through that process, I had an advocate. I recommend it to anyone who has to go through it. He had no idea how to get one for his wife.

"I'll do it," I said. I still don't know where that came from! It was instinct. I will call her on the phone and I will walk her through the process.

At any rate, I told him to stop talking, pick up a pen and get ready to write. I gave him my personal email address. He wrote it down. I told him to write me soon and I would talk with his wife, give her some pointers on how to deal with the Social Security folks.

After all they've been through, they deserve a break. Truly. I believe that! If I was rich, it wouldn't be an issue. I'd more than gladly write them a check every month.

Meanwhile, my stomach is still burning with disgust and fury over the way corporations are permitted to treat employees. Like Kali enticing us to the rocky coast, they paint a beautiful picture and then lead us straight to disaster. It is immoral. And it's amoral. And it's unacceptable.

There's got to be a special place in hell....


Peace,


~Chani