Telemarketing for God
I am enjoying a quiet morning at home, catching up on some reading, writing and finding lost objects in my office. Then the phone rang. It sounded like my friend, Belinda, but it wasn't. It was a telemarketer.
But this one was different. She was pleasant, had a great laugh, and I didn't mind talking to her. And it may have turned out to be one of those God moments.
OK, I know you're probably rolling your eyes and thinking, good grief, Kathy, how do you spiritualize a telemarketing phone call and turn it into an outreach conversation. But you will probably discover, if you haven't already, that I can spin just about anything into a connecting point with others.
But here is what came to mind. And back to Shane Claiborne and his observation that Christians act the same as everyone else. I wouldn't particularly enjoy being a telemarketer (only a collection agent ranks lower in my mind...and Matt recently got a phone call from one of them regarding a hospital bill he didn't even know he had) but as Christians we shouldn't respond by being rude, snapping at the poor voice on the other end of the line, or any other number of exasperated, cranky ways.
I listened to what the fun gal had to say, and actually noted that we didn't need any of the services she was offering as we were doing OK. She remarked that God had been good to us, I agreed, we laughed together, connected and I invited her to visit the blog. I hope she does.
And if she does, I hope she comments. But I think the conversation put a smile into both of our days.
But this one was different. She was pleasant, had a great laugh, and I didn't mind talking to her. And it may have turned out to be one of those God moments.
OK, I know you're probably rolling your eyes and thinking, good grief, Kathy, how do you spiritualize a telemarketing phone call and turn it into an outreach conversation. But you will probably discover, if you haven't already, that I can spin just about anything into a connecting point with others.
But here is what came to mind. And back to Shane Claiborne and his observation that Christians act the same as everyone else. I wouldn't particularly enjoy being a telemarketer (only a collection agent ranks lower in my mind...and Matt recently got a phone call from one of them regarding a hospital bill he didn't even know he had) but as Christians we shouldn't respond by being rude, snapping at the poor voice on the other end of the line, or any other number of exasperated, cranky ways.
I listened to what the fun gal had to say, and actually noted that we didn't need any of the services she was offering as we were doing OK. She remarked that God had been good to us, I agreed, we laughed together, connected and I invited her to visit the blog. I hope she does.
And if she does, I hope she comments. But I think the conversation put a smile into both of our days.
Labels: God, phone interruptions, telemarketers
posted by www.kathypride.com at
8:51 AM
5 Comments:
I had a pleasant telemarketer today also! It was from a pro-life organization, but I have found even Christian ones can be pushy! We had a nice short talk, hooray!
My call wasn't from a telemarketer, but one I made to a medical lab for a bill. I think those and calls to one's insurance company should be on your list to, Kathy. I braced myself for the usual: "it's due in 30 days of receipt and there's nothing we can do." Instead, not only did she agree that yes, the bill had indeed bypassed our insurance company, but that she would submit it herself and we didn't need to do a thing! this is the funny part: while she was checking her computer, she said to herself, but outloud, "ummm..... that coffee smells good!" I thought she was talking to ME and was quite alarmed since I had just made coffee and was drinking a cup while talking with her! Alarmed, I asked her what she had said and she said someone there (somewhere in this country -- it being a national outfit) was making coffee. I told her what my reaction had been and she laughed. We laughed together, and then I went on to speculate that maybe my cell phone had more capabilities than I knew about. Could she smell my coffee through the phone? It was really a funny shared moment and she told me I had made her day. She made mine too.
Love,
Katy
I am generally on the other end of these conversations. I am a collections agent..I don't call individuals, but rather government agencies who haven't paid their software bills...still not a glorified position...but it's always nice to be treated with grace and dignity when doing my job...I think people tend to forget that the man or woman on the other side of the line is just an employee trying to do their job...they don't enjoy harassing people or interrupting meals...they just need to clock their time and make their hourly wage so they can go home and love on their families. I don't know of anyone who wishes from the age of 5 to grow up and become a collections agent or a telemarketer, but a job is a job. When we can humanize the situation and engage in conversation with them (outside of what they have scripted to say:) it's a lot easier to tolerate the interrupting call in the middle of dinner.
I'll bet you made that woman's day.
Matt just had a really awful experience with a collections agent. It was on behalf of Vail Medical Center to collect a portion of uncovered expenses related to an ER visit. I can't imagine a worse job...but I did work in the billing office of a med center eons, and I mean years ago and I hated it. If I just needed a signature that was fine, but I hated trying to reach people who didn't have insurance or other more complicated scenarios.
I think we always need to remember the personal face...
Perhaps unbenknownst to us when we talk to telemarketers or collection agents we are entertaining angels? OK that is a stretch, but not such a stretch to still follow the Golden Rule.
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