Customer Service Rep or 8 hours of bitchin in my ear . . .

As recently as December 12, 2009 I was working away in a little restaurant in Romeo Michigan with my brother, his wife and youngest son. It was a nice little gig. Busy enough to keep two, maybe three people working hard for a couple hours everyday. Of course, with the prep and cleaning and baking and cleaning and dishes and prep and dishes and cleaning, there was always plenty to do. I must say that dealing with the general public, running the counter as its known, was probably my favorite part. Now don't get me wrong, I like chopping onions and carrots and potatoes for soups and pot roast and the such. I really enjoy cooking. Putting together one of the many Corn Beef Reubens or Steak and Cheese Grinders we sold was challenging and rewarding. Knowing that people came back time and time again because we were serving great food and they enjoyed eating what we created always gave me a positive vibe. My brother, the mastermind behind all of this, will be greatly rewarded for this someday. I am sure of this. I am sure that my ability to strike up a conversation with anybody that walked in is indeed a gift as much as it is a talent. Anyway, serving food to hungry patrons is a service. I enjoy helping people. This may sound corny, but it chokes me up when somebody really appreciates and acknowledges my efforts to help them. As recently as December 14th, 2009 I was hired into Allegra Direct Communications as a Customer Service Representative. There was talk of closing the restaurant and I was getting less and less hours every week. I answered an ad on Craig’s List and got an interview along with about 35 other people. Fast forwarding, I got hired and found out I would be taking calls for a busy Blue Cross Blue Shield Automotive division specifically GM. I get to talk to about 25 to 30 people a day and work with them on various issues they have with their insurance coverage. Now that I have been doing this for about 6 weeks now (after 3 weeks of extensive training) I am realizing that I really do have a knack for helping people. I have been able to do everything from order a replacement id card for someone who lost theirs in a house fire to sooth the nerves of an enrollee who thought they were going to have to pay $35,000 for a hospital bill. They were very grateful when I told them BCBS was going to pay the entire bill after I straighten out a simple billing procedure. This makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Now of course, there are people who are convinced that bcbs is trying to pull a fast one over on them, and we are just a bunch of crooks. But those are just a few compared to the number of people I am able to help. Sometimes an elderly person just wants someone to talk to for 5 minutes. With the Jet Set fast paced life we live in were everything is now, Now, NOW . . . it’s nice to take the time to listen to someone explain what they are going through. I know some may be embellishing the truth a bit, but that doesn’t change the fact that they appreciate me taking the time to listen to them. I have also realized that by hearing all of the shit these people lay on me on a daily basis, my problems are small in relation . . . all in all, I enjoy listening to people and walking them through their insurance woes. Allegra promised the 23 trainees from my class a review after 90 days. According to my calendar, that will be around March 14th. I am excited to see what happens at that time. For now, at the end of the call I will keep asking “have I resolved the reason for your call?”, and I will genuinely care if I have really helped.