Working in a call center can really suck sometimes. A lot of people are assholes. Even people who would normally be decently polite to your face see no problem treating callers like shit. You get yelled at, hung up on, and blamed for things you have nothing to do with. Unless you're really good, fundraising has frustratingly few positive returns: I'm do middling to fair, and I probably average about 35% pledges out of prospective donors. It bites.
But there are some things that make it slightly more tolerable. Getting pledges, of course! And also getting nice people, even if they can't give - people who tell you they appreciate the work you do, people who thank you for the call, people who have really cool jobs and don't mind talking about them, people who give you good advice. That's one of the big reasons I still do this job, and don't work in the library or something.
And then I'm always amazed at how happy it makes me, especially on a really sucky night, to call someone and hear a really cool voicemail message. Like singing messages, or ridiculous jokes - I called one lady whose voice mail was " Yes, I've changed my number - but is it change you can believe in?" and almost died laughing. It's a tiny thing, but it just cheers me up a lot.
So I was really bored at work last night (calling Engineering Nons, good god), and started making up a new voice mail for my phone that would be more interesting than the one I had on there. If you call me now, you'll hear this:
Welcome to my secret lair on Skullcrusher Mountain!
If you're calling about my assistant Scarface, press one.
If you're calling about the wolves, press two.
If you're calling about the Doomsday Device, it was detonated 35 minutes ago.
If you're calling for (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
masterofmidgets ), leave me a message and I'll try to call you back.
I am such a nerd. But hopefully I will improve the day of some equally nerdy telemarketer who hears this.
But there are some things that make it slightly more tolerable. Getting pledges, of course! And also getting nice people, even if they can't give - people who tell you they appreciate the work you do, people who thank you for the call, people who have really cool jobs and don't mind talking about them, people who give you good advice. That's one of the big reasons I still do this job, and don't work in the library or something.
And then I'm always amazed at how happy it makes me, especially on a really sucky night, to call someone and hear a really cool voicemail message. Like singing messages, or ridiculous jokes - I called one lady whose voice mail was " Yes, I've changed my number - but is it change you can believe in?" and almost died laughing. It's a tiny thing, but it just cheers me up a lot.
So I was really bored at work last night (calling Engineering Nons, good god), and started making up a new voice mail for my phone that would be more interesting than the one I had on there. If you call me now, you'll hear this:
Welcome to my secret lair on Skullcrusher Mountain!
If you're calling about my assistant Scarface, press one.
If you're calling about the wolves, press two.
If you're calling about the Doomsday Device, it was detonated 35 minutes ago.
If you're calling for (
masterofmidgets ), leave me a message and I'll try to call you back.I am such a nerd. But hopefully I will improve the day of some equally nerdy telemarketer who hears this.