I have been working on a move from a 2-bedroom apartment into a much bigger townhouse. As fun as that is, I've also spent a fair amount of time on the phone with various companies updating contact information, etc.
Is it really wrong of me, though, to wish that I could speak to people who actually speak English? I'm all for inclusion and acceptance... I teach it on a daily basis. However, I am tired of asking people to repeat their questions. I am tired of having to repeat my questions at least three or four times. Is it really such a crime to want to be able to speak to someone that I can actually communicate with?
Let me be clear that I am not trying to characterize the entire industry of telephone customer-service representatives. I'm sure that most of them, if not all, are wonderful people doing wonderful things with their lives and families. I just want to know that after waiting on hold for 10 or 15 minutes will eventually lead to a real person that I can actually talk to.
Is this really so wrong?
Driver Information
- Jason
- Slave Lake, Alberta, Canada
- I am a graduate from the Education faculty at the University of Alberta. I teach high school social studies in Slave Lake, Alberta. I still love Dr. Pepper and all its 23 flavors, but I've switched to diet.
8 comments:
When I moved in 2007, I was able to make nearly all of my address change notifications online. Much less stressful!
Last time I checked, language was independent of race. You want to speak to someone fluent in English, you don't care what colour their skin is, just their proficiency in one of Canada's official languages. Thus you are not a racist.
It's not wrong at all. Most people would agree.
It's just wrong to actually say it in public lest the PC Police come after you for being a racist.
NeilD
Yes you are a racist.
Go to Wales and see if you understand their english, it is better then yours.
You hide behind an accent but what you are really saying is that there are too many non-white immigrants in Canada.
You fit in just perfectly with the CPC.
I am a manager. A couple of times I've recommended to specific employees that improving their English would be good for their careers. I offered to have the company pay for classes. Had communication been a bigger factor in their jobs, I would have insisted rather than recommended.
Those employees did not seem offended, and thanked me for the offer. I don't how know the authorities view these things, but I have not one bit of guilt over having done so since it was in everyone's best interest.
I suppose a more correct manager would have not said anything, and let these employees, the company, and the clients suffer the (silent) consequences of their heavy accents.
Why would you even consider for a moment that you might be a racist? Don't let the politically correct guilt mongers even put the idea in your head. I spent a little over a year working in Mexico. One of the things I insisted on from my colleagues was that they speak to me in Spanish since I was a guest in their country and their language should take precedence. (I did, however, ask them to speak more slowly as if conversing with a child.) The only time I relaxed that request was when the discussion was highly technical and some of the concepts, not just the words, were hard to grasp. By the time my contract had expired, I could get make myself understood by clerks, bartenders, waitresses, and workers on the jobsite. Not only did I feel this was an act of respect for the people around me but it was beneficial to myself.
The part that got me was that you actually got to speak to a Human being. Is there a special number combination that I've been missing?
It's not that you're racist. It's that you desire easy of communication. I don't think it's that much to ask for.
I'm sure if somebody in India had to call Texas for technical support (with the Texan rep speaking in Hindi), they'd be angry too.
Post a Comment