People, the cause and balm for so many of my frustrations
It is amazing how much easier it is to deal with difficult people if even just one other person recognizes the absurdity.
So I'm here working at the hotel today and these two women come in to use the computers and ask how much it is. I explain that it's $5 for 15 minutes. The second lady rather happily accepts this, she wants to check her email and if that's the cost, so be it. The second grumbled about the cost but decided to use it anyway. I assist 2 with Firefox (IE isn't on the desktop on that computer) and 1 gets confused by the lack of a "go" button in IE. I look, suggest she type in more than just "COMCAST" and then press enter. "Why is it all in caps? Should it be that way?" "You've got capslock on." (Yes, the keyboards DO have indicator lights) Fifteen minutes pass. Lady two gets up, pays, we discuss the duck tour and the weather and she goes to fetch a light sweater. Lady one calls me over with a question:
1: I just spent five minutes writing this email and it disappeared.
K: Um. . . I'm sorry, what happened?
1: I moved the mouse up to click 'send' and it disappeared.
K: Did it actually send the email?
1: No, it would have shown up. What happened?
K: Well, I wasn't watching so it's hard for me to say exactly what happened.
1: But it's gone and I spent all that time working on it.
K: Sometimes there's a burp in the system and things just disappear, I'm sorry.
1: So do I have to type the whole thing up again?
K: Well, I can't retrieve it for you.
1: But I've already used my 15 minutes and it's not my fault!
K: Look, just type it up and we'll not worry about it, okay?
1: Fine.
More time passes, about 37 minutes from the time the ladys sat down at the computer. Lady 1 comes up with the sign in sheet to discuss payment. (meanwhile I've got another customer shipping a small package to California)
K: That'll be $10, please.
1: But I spent 15 minutes retyping that email!
K: You said you'd spent 5 minutes typing it the first time and I said we wouldn't worry about that bit, but you've been on there nearly forty minutes.
1: But it's really only about twenty.
K: And twenty is still more than fifteen. It'll be $10.
1: But what time do I put down on this sign in sheet?
K: It really doesn't matter.
1: It does, I'm paying for this!
K: The sheet is mostly to say when you started so that we know.
1: Yes, but I don't want to be charged for. . .
K: I'm only charging you the $10, what the sheet says isn't important.
She grumbles some more about the outragous pricing (Keep in mind it should actually have been $15, and only my human kindness made it $10. . the computer system upstairs wouldn't have been as accomodating), pays me, and leaves. I exchange glances with my other customer who makes a joke about things we can't control. We discuss lost emails and the wonders of saving (auto or not). And suddenly all feels right in the world.
So I'm here working at the hotel today and these two women come in to use the computers and ask how much it is. I explain that it's $5 for 15 minutes. The second lady rather happily accepts this, she wants to check her email and if that's the cost, so be it. The second grumbled about the cost but decided to use it anyway. I assist 2 with Firefox (IE isn't on the desktop on that computer) and 1 gets confused by the lack of a "go" button in IE. I look, suggest she type in more than just "COMCAST" and then press enter. "Why is it all in caps? Should it be that way?" "You've got capslock on." (Yes, the keyboards DO have indicator lights) Fifteen minutes pass. Lady two gets up, pays, we discuss the duck tour and the weather and she goes to fetch a light sweater. Lady one calls me over with a question:
1: I just spent five minutes writing this email and it disappeared.
K: Um. . . I'm sorry, what happened?
1: I moved the mouse up to click 'send' and it disappeared.
K: Did it actually send the email?
1: No, it would have shown up. What happened?
K: Well, I wasn't watching so it's hard for me to say exactly what happened.
1: But it's gone and I spent all that time working on it.
K: Sometimes there's a burp in the system and things just disappear, I'm sorry.
1: So do I have to type the whole thing up again?
K: Well, I can't retrieve it for you.
1: But I've already used my 15 minutes and it's not my fault!
K: Look, just type it up and we'll not worry about it, okay?
1: Fine.
More time passes, about 37 minutes from the time the ladys sat down at the computer. Lady 1 comes up with the sign in sheet to discuss payment. (meanwhile I've got another customer shipping a small package to California)
K: That'll be $10, please.
1: But I spent 15 minutes retyping that email!
K: You said you'd spent 5 minutes typing it the first time and I said we wouldn't worry about that bit, but you've been on there nearly forty minutes.
1: But it's really only about twenty.
K: And twenty is still more than fifteen. It'll be $10.
1: But what time do I put down on this sign in sheet?
K: It really doesn't matter.
1: It does, I'm paying for this!
K: The sheet is mostly to say when you started so that we know.
1: Yes, but I don't want to be charged for. . .
K: I'm only charging you the $10, what the sheet says isn't important.
She grumbles some more about the outragous pricing (Keep in mind it should actually have been $15, and only my human kindness made it $10. . the computer system upstairs wouldn't have been as accomodating), pays me, and leaves. I exchange glances with my other customer who makes a joke about things we can't control. We discuss lost emails and the wonders of saving (auto or not). And suddenly all feels right in the world.
posted by Katina | 9:57 AM
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