Once upon a time you used to like people... and then you got a job in a call centre. Though you told yourself that it was only a temporary job because it's good pay, you're still there four years down the line and you have no idea what you're doing with your life. But still you drag yourself to your desk, settling in for ten more hours of talking to people who start out their calls hating you and go downhill from there. Sometimes it's hard to imagine that the staggering capacity some people have for idiocy will ever be bettered: until the next one rings, pretending to by their own wife, despite the very obvious deep voice. It's sort of part and parcel of the experience that clients will think that you're the worst human being ever, so be prepared to be called every name under the sun and have to keep that dazzling smile on your face. Because God forbid anyone actually suspects you feel a real way about them.
22. When You're The Second Contact For The Client
Sometimes - rarely - there can be days when you actually do your job without transferring someone through to another department when you could have dealt with them yourself. It's victimless crime. Or at least it is until you get a client on the phone who has been messed about by a one of your colleagues (or who imagines they had some sort of vendetta), and you end up getting a right earful. Sadly for them, you can no longer sound genuine when apologising for something that wasn't your fault. Your eyes hurt so much from rolling that you're worried they might actually get stuck in the back of your head.
