Sleep Spent

So, it finally happened. It had happened in other jobs, so I knew I wasn’t going to be able to avoid it. I got a call from an asshole today.

Fortunately I didn’t have to talk to him for very long, or I’m sure it would have been much worse than it was. But he called up wanting to see if he could get someone’s password changed. Not his own; this person is retiring. He said her name is “Dotty Monroe” but that she’s in our ph database as Dorothy.

I was on another call when he called me, and I put the other (much nicer!) user on the phone to speak with him. I don’t remember exactly what he asked me, but he was speaking very fast and wasn’t making any sense. He had very little idea what he was asking for, but he thought he knew. He kept saying he wanted Dotty to be able to log into the “port hole” instead of the “portal.” Finally he said something along the lines of “is this where I go for that.” (It wasn’t quite that; I took whatever it was as meaning that he was looking at a webpage and wanted to know if it was the right one.)

I waited for him to finish what he was saying, because it sounded like he wasn’t done. When he didn’t say anything for a minute, I said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re asking me.”

So then HE says: “You know, I think I had you before. Son, you’re not very good at answering questions.”

I was floored. First of all, I’d (thankfully) never spoken to this jerk before. But secondly, where does he get off telling me I can’t tell him what he can’t ask for??

He’s lucky I didn’t hang up the phone right then. That was my first instinct, but then I decided that that was very unprofessional and I’d probably get a talking-to. So instead I said, “Excuse me, sir, but I don’t appreciate being spoken to that way.”

At this point, I try to double check with him that the spelling of the woman’s name is correct, Dotty Monroe, because I can’t find any mention of her in ph. He tells me he doesn’t know how to spell her last name. (See: “doesn’t know what he’s asking for” above.) I can’t find anything under “Monroe.”

Since I can’t find any mention of this woman, I tell him he needs to speak to Terri, my boss. She isn’t in, so he says he’ll call back Monday.

No major tragedy, but damn if I want to talk to that asshole again. EVER.

sigh

On the plus side, I stuck around and talked with Brett and Jim (a coworker and my other boss) tonight after I was done with work. It was fun; they’re both really nice people with some interesting ideas. And now I’m tired. Bed is calling...