Customer Service

After waiting patiently in a big box store for at least 30 minutes without seeing hide nor hair of a service person... After being told repeatedly by people that obviously worked in the store "sorry, but this isn't my department, someone will be along to help you"... After finally being helped by a bored and seemingly humourless customer service rep, who seemed to do the absolute minimum required to help, I am left wondering, oh customer service, where have you gone?

I can see it dwindling in the place I work too, where coworkers go out of their way to say "I'm not on client service today, I can't help people" "It's not my day" or "it's not my job". I see the frustrated look on the client's face - they only came here to ask for what we said we would provide. They're not asking us to go out of our way to help them - and in fact, we're getting paid TO help them, so why do we act like it's such an inconvenience???

I'm not sure if this is a symptom of an individualistic world, where we can tune others out using our technologies, or whether this is a symptom of the commodification of everything, or whether it's merely apathy, but I do think that if we fail to service our customers, we will lose them. They will find what they want elsewhere for a better price (probably the Internet, because if they're not getting service ANYWAY, they might as well shop where there isn't any) and we stand to lose our reason d'etre. And so customer service apathy is a dangerous trap to fall into.

It sounds cheesy, but if we simply CARE for other people in small ways on a day to day basis, then customer service isn't even an issue. I challenge everyone to care a little more today - at work or elsewhere, and see what comes of it.

Without Google, I May Cease to Exist...

Google runs my life now... If I think about it, there are several very good reasons why without Google I would cease to exist. I will explain them here:

1) I Blog, therefore I am. Google owns Blogger. And since I write my thoughts here in order to achieve personal verification, and self actualization, without Blogger I may be swallowed by the whole of my own significance. I would certainly disappear from Netspace.

2)My Calendar is completely managed by Google Calendar. Again, without the reassurance of daily life events (work, leisure, personal development, etc) I cannot be sure that I would be doing anything at all. Google Calendar validates my existence by providing me with places I need to be, and in so doing reinforces the fact that I do, actually exist.

3)Google Desktop provides me with a link to the outside world. This proves to me that the world exists, and I by proxy, exist in it. With the drag of my mouse I find out what the weather is doing, what the headlines are, and whether my favorite blog has been updated. Since these feeds are always changing, I am fairly confident that the world and I still exist.

4)I am searchable. It's not easy, my blog is nowhere near the top of the ranks or anything, but technically, I am searchable. This beyond everything else proves I must exist, though without it I cannot be so sure of my own existence.

Think about it...Would you exist without Google? Myspace? Facebook? Without them, how do you know you're not just a figment of your own (or someone else's) imagination?

Does the Internet Facilitate Democracy?

Well... In my humble opinion yes, and no.

All the buzz in the blogosphere of late about unfair funding practices for elections shows that technology helps people do 2 things: 1. access previously unaccessible information and 2. talk about it with each other. Since access to information and dialog are essential for a working democracy, technology does make a difference, does help citizens create a more democratic society.

but on the other hand, who owns the technological infrastructure anyway? Large corporate interests. And technology is only as good as the coding behind it. In the book CODE, Lawrence Lessig reminds us that if corporate and government interests want to code Internet software for commercial gain, then they will. And coding for commercial gain is often at odds with coding for the citizenry to engage in democratic dialog. Besides, judging by the results of the last US election, fear is a much more powerful motivator than rational dialog and access to information when it comes to making an important decision like who to nominate King for four years.

So technology has the potential to aid democracy, but only people can live up to the potential. Back to square one?

The Relationship End User Agreement

I think relationships should have end user agreements. What would yours look like if you valued yourself enough to have one? What would your potential mate have to do, or accept before he or she would be allowed to download your application? How would your dating life change if, even secretly and in principle only, you had a list of conditions that had to be met before you would let a person move past the thirty day trial period?

I think mine would go something like this:

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NOTICE TO BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND: PLEASE READ THIS CONTRACT CAREFULLY, BY DATING, COMMITTING TO, AND HAVING SEX WITH ALL OR ANY PORTION OF THIS WOMAN, YOU ACCEPT ALL TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, INCLUDING, IN PARTICULAR THE LIMITATIONS ON DATING AND HAVING SEX WITH OTHER PEOPLE CONTAINED IN SECTION 2. YOU AGREE THAT THIS AGREEMENT IS ENFORCEABLE LIKE ANY WRITTEN NEGOTIATED AGREEMENT SIGNED BY YOU. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, DO NOT DATE THIS WOMAN.

1.Definitions: "Woman" means the girl whose pants you're looking to get into, silly.

2.Licenses: If you obtained the woman with her explicit consent, and subject to your compliance with the terms of this agreement (this "Agreement"), including the restrictions in Section 2.2, You are granted an exclusive license to Date this woman in the manner described in the documentation as follows.

2.1 General Use: You may take this woman out for dinner, movies, or coffee or be taken out for same by this woman. You may also engage in certain acts of physical intimacy, cuddling, and emotional support.

2.2 Limitations: You may NOT date any other woman concurrently, or otherwise abuse the trust placed upon you while in this relationship. You may NOT physically, psychologically or emotionally harm the woman. You may NOT engage in passive aggressive guilt trips nor side against this woman in an argument with your mother. Failure to comply with these limitations will result in immediate revoking of the dating contract and possible legal action or psychological trauma

If you have any questions regarding this Agreement or if you wish to request any information from the woman please use the address and contact information included with this product or via the web at www.getaclue.com to contact the dating office serving your jurisdiction

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Of course it's a joke, and everything is exaggerated for comedic effect, but it's worth thinking about. What are you not willing to compromise on in your relationships with others. And if you find something that you are currently compromising on when you really shouldn't be, what can you do to change it?