Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Overheard at my ex-Work for the Dole provider’s office
Otherwise having finished with these people last November, I went there in person today in order to (hopefully) expedite some paperwork I needed to get the taxpayer to shell out $75 for a course I’m about to start (being a WfD graduate, I’m entitled to an $800 “training credit”, which expires this November).
The office at this place has never struck me as being particularly organised. It seems to exclusively employ young women, and burns through them, too. Today “Michelle”, the person I had spoke to on the phone yesterday was not available – “unexpectedly called out to one of our off-site premises”. No one else but “Michelle” could help me with what needed to be done, I was assured.
While waiting for this fob-off to be completed (the above is just a simplified summary; it was actually done with a baroque complexity over five minutes or so), I overheard this little gem:
RECEPTIONIST (on phone): Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long – you were after Sophie? . . . I’m afraid that Sophie has just suddenly gone into hospital for an operation . . . yes, an operation . . . But she’ll be back very, very soon.
Clearly, I am way out of touch with the ways of the modern office. I always thought that someone’s being “in a meeting” was a good enough all-purpose excuse to Fuck the Customer Off (When You Personally Can’t Be Bothered). But excuse hyper-inflation lately seems to have hit in a big way. Can’t wait to hear this one sometime soon: “I’m afraid Brianna’s just slumped dead over the photocopier . . . I’ll get her to return your call . . . No, it shouldn’t take that long – she’s just doing a bit of collating and tone-lightening while she’s up there”.
Otherwise having finished with these people last November, I went there in person today in order to (hopefully) expedite some paperwork I needed to get the taxpayer to shell out $75 for a course I’m about to start (being a WfD graduate, I’m entitled to an $800 “training credit”, which expires this November).
The office at this place has never struck me as being particularly organised. It seems to exclusively employ young women, and burns through them, too. Today “Michelle”, the person I had spoke to on the phone yesterday was not available – “unexpectedly called out to one of our off-site premises”. No one else but “Michelle” could help me with what needed to be done, I was assured.
While waiting for this fob-off to be completed (the above is just a simplified summary; it was actually done with a baroque complexity over five minutes or so), I overheard this little gem:
RECEPTIONIST (on phone): Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long – you were after Sophie? . . . I’m afraid that Sophie has just suddenly gone into hospital for an operation . . . yes, an operation . . . But she’ll be back very, very soon.
Clearly, I am way out of touch with the ways of the modern office. I always thought that someone’s being “in a meeting” was a good enough all-purpose excuse to Fuck the Customer Off (When You Personally Can’t Be Bothered). But excuse hyper-inflation lately seems to have hit in a big way. Can’t wait to hear this one sometime soon: “I’m afraid Brianna’s just slumped dead over the photocopier . . . I’ll get her to return your call . . . No, it shouldn’t take that long – she’s just doing a bit of collating and tone-lightening while she’s up there”.
