So far..so good?

 I work hard, I love and I enjoy life. I'm a nice enough person and a good friend to those I care about. I live by morals and standards and well a Christian upbringing to say the least, not that i am very religious any more. I am generous and giving and love helping others. I may be young but my life has had many trials and tribulations. I suffer from anxiety and rare panic attacks. I was also diagnosed with a bone condition, so I try to make the most of my days and my life because one day I could just end up in a wheel chair just from breaking a bone.

I wanted to share my story, or more keep this as a diary. Maybe I can influence someone one day or change the world one persoective at a time. Lord knows i have a story or two to tell.

The first part of my story is my current job. Everyone has views and opinions so I'm not saying only what I say is all there is to say. More that it would be nice to open the eyes of how people interact day by day, whether its on the phone, face to face or via social networks and media. 

For me it started 6 months ago when I was selected and hired to work for an insurance company. With a full week of training in products and what to expect when you first get on the phones. We get scripts, what to say and how to handle certain situations, and close monitoring for a month by a supervisor. The work environment is amazing, the people friendly and welcoming, but the job... Well I've had good days and i've had some not so good days.

The first thing I learnt was that people can be rude. Sure we probably called them on a bad day, they may have had a tough day, a bad week or an argument with someone. Others are just so caught up in their worlds which can be hectic and busy and stressful. So when the phone rings and it's someone offering insurance, I understand if you want to get off the phone or you don't want to talk. If you're busy then your're busy. My job is not to force feed you policies, it's not to bully you into buying anything and it's definately not my job to make you late to pick up your kids from school. 

If you don't want to talk, that is fine, I understand that too. If you hate telemarketers, by all means I won't bug you. 

My job is purely that, a job. Sure I chose to accept the role to work in insurance, but that does not mean I became a mindless robot whose sole priority is to make sales and nothing more. I wont be rude or abrupt with customers on the other end of the phone. My upbringing was full of bullies picking on me, yet I treat people how I would want to be treated myself. Same goes for when I am talking to complete strangers on the phone. 

Now picture this, you meet me on the street, in a super market at a restaurant or shopping mall. Would you be nice and say hello and make some polite conversation? Would you just go about your day? Or would you walk up to me and demand to know what I was doing interupting your day, interupting your meal with conversation, or push me out of your way in the queue so you can go first with your purchases? Obviously when ou are at a shopping mall you don't ram your trolleys into other people, you don't argue that you should be first and you don't confront people who are right there in front of you. Why? Because we don't want people knowing how rude we are, we don't want to get into fights, we'd rather stay annonomous and just write about the bad experience later on facebook. Facebook, twitter and other medias we use to complain and vent frustration. We hide behind technology because we can be a needle in a hay stack, with no consequences. 

Let me tell you this, phone conversations are the same. Some people think it is just a voice on the phone when telemarketers call and obviously it doesn't matter how rude or nasty you are because you will never meet them in real life so it wont matter. The thing is though it does matter. I have been yelled at, sworn at, complained at, and taken calls with customers who are abusively rude. I have talked to people who argued their point is right and when trying to explain points calmly resulted in my head being verbally ripped off. I never raise my voise, I never complain, and I never hang up. I listen, try and do my best to stay positive and in control of the situation. Sometimes my explanation calms down the customer and helps them see their debate in a more positive lights. But at the end of the day majority hang up afterwards and are consumed with the anger that they are still right no matter what.

My question is, how can you still be so rude to a stranger? You wouldn't be rude in person so why be rude over the phone? 

You're actions have consequences, even words speak louder than most actions can.

Words hurt, words can upset. As an insurance seller I try not to take calls to heart. But I can and I do. And my health is suffering for it. I have had severe anxiety and panic attacks at work. I have cried and cried so much from hurtful things people say to me sometimes. I have had to go to councillors, doctors and even a psychiatrist to help me cope and manage. It got to the point where I was scared to go to work and scared for calls to come through my headset. Scared to talk to someone in case I made them angry. Scared of having to listen to my own thoughts. Strangers would dictate my emotions, my well being and my emotions. 

Telemarketers, insurance sellers, promoters, all they are is an employee to a company. Obviously some of the are scams sometimes. But most of them are just like me, a person with feelings and emotions who gets paid to talk to people 8 hours a day. Its just the job we have, customers hate our job, so why do they hate the messenger so much then instead? Instead of saying hurtful words or rude words, why not just nicely and calmly state you're not interested. I wont mind.