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The Christmas paper. A tale of WTF?

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  • The Christmas paper. A tale of WTF?

    Two Christmas mornings ago I found myself delivering papers, normally this would be of great annoyance to me but since I was 19 and had no love lost for the holiday I could've given a damn. Hey, more money for me right? Anyways the day after one of my co-workers, an old guy named Roland brought in a tape he recorded off his machine the previous afternoon. He had been on vacation so he'd had another carrier deliver his papers but any complaints would still apply to him, apparently she missed one and all hell broke loose. I heard this a year and a half ago but I'll try to be as verbatim as I can:

    "Hello this is Bob so-and-so, I'm calling about the missed paper yesterday morning."

    (Normal right? Not for long)

    "Yeah, I just-ya know-wanted the paper...I just wanted to read the goddam paper...and I can't because you didn't deliver it, you didn't deliver the goddam paper!"

    (The man is quickly losing his grip, you can tell he's quivering and is beginning to sob)

    "*Sobbing* I can't...I just...I want the paper, why didn't you deliver the fucking paper? I just want my fucking paper!"

    The tape's over and that's good because by this point me and Roland are laughing like hyenas. Since when is a rag newpaper an intregral part of anyone's holiday? I had even missed a few customers but they didn't even care, it's freakin Christmas! Has anyone else ever had an SC that, instead of screaming, opted to throw a crying tantrum. I mean this guy was an adult, but he was acting like an 8 year old who didn't get a Xbox for Christmas.

  • #2
    i admit, i really like my paper and miss it when i go to college but i would never throw a fit over it!

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    • #3


      OMG! If that's how he responds to a missing newspaper, then I'd hate to see how he responds when one of his friends or somebody in his family dies.
      Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

      "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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      • #4
        It sounds as if there actually is something wrong with this guy...

        ocd maybe? or needs a scrit routine to be followed....

        still funny though
        I wasnt put on this earth to make you feel like a man ~ Mary Bertone

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        • #5
          I always miss my paper when it's not delivered (like today, but that's another story). However, I wouldn't call the delivery person and sob like someone killed my mommy. I'd call the paper's circulation desk and request a re-delivery. But then, that makes sense.
          Unseen but seeing
          oh dear, now they're masquerading as sane-KiaKat
          There isn't enough interpretive dance in the workplace these days-Irv
          3rd shift needs love, too
          RIP, mo bhrionglóid

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          • #6
            Could he have had aspberger syndrome?

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            • #7
              The tape's over and that's good because by this point me and Roland are laughing like hyenas. Since when is a rag newpaper an intregral part of anyone's holiday? I had even missed a few customers but they didn't even care, it's freakin Christmas! Has anyone else ever had an SC that, instead of screaming, opted to throw a crying tantrum. I mean this guy was an adult, but he was acting like an 8 year old who didn't get a Xbox for Christmas.[/QUOTE]



              I've had a few that called in for roadside service that were crying. Hate to make it fit the stereotype - but they were all women. Most of them were broken down and had NO CLUE as to where they were and we have to know where you are to send service. They would grow increasingly impatient with any question you asked trying to find out. It would go from impatience, to frustration, to anger, and then to sobbing and crying. It was in stages just like that.
              "I'm still walking, so I'm sure that I can dance!" from Saint of Circumstance - Grateful Dead

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              • #8
                Quoth Kiwi
                It sounds as if there actually is something wrong with this guy...

                ocd maybe? or needs a scrit routine to be followed....

                still funny though

                OCD - yeah, that sounds like it could be the case

                I've had my paper be later than the time I've wanted it delivered and didn't have it in time for me to grab it for work...but I've never cried.
                "I'm still walking, so I'm sure that I can dance!" from Saint of Circumstance - Grateful Dead

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                • #9
                  I really can't start my day unless I read the paper, while I would be mad if it never came, I wouldn't pitch a fit over it.

                  Besides you can always go get it at the corner.
                  KAHN: I thought being smart person in Texas set her apart.

                  KAHN: If my girl doesn't wrestle, I'll show you who put the sue in Souphanousinphone!

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                  • #10
                    When I worked for the satellite TV company a long time ago, people would call and try to add the local stations from NYC or Los Angeles because those stations were carrying a football game they wanted to watch. For better or worse, we could only provide those stations to people who couldn't get their local network affiliates.

                    One Sunday, a woman called because she wanted to add the LA stations so she could watch the Raiders game. Unfortunately, it was against federal law to do that.

                    She started to cry because "my life is going to be totally ruined if I can't watch this game." She went on and on, sobbing and wailing. "Don't you understand? It's going to totally ruin my life," blah, blah, blah.

                    I know all this because it was the one time the supervisors gave into the temptation to put a call on the speaker phone so we could all gather around the desk and listen to it.
                    I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. -- Raymond Chandler

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                    • #11
                      My mom gets that way...not so far as crying, but she gets a little violent...throwing things, slamming doors and yelling.

                      However, in my mother's defense, she had a head injury when she was a teenager. She's in her mid-60's now and is starting to show signs of brain damage from her teenage head injury (she had a brain concussion when she was hit by a drunk driver...was unconcious for 5 weeks) She cant help the weird mood swings. My mom doesnt drive anymore (bad knees) and gets mad when she cant just get up and drive somewhere on her own.

                      It's possible that the crying newspaper customer might have had some sort of similar problem too. Maybe he's housebound and that newspaper is one of his bright spots of his day? Not all sucky customers can help their suckiness...

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                      • #12
                        Well, after it was all said and done I did feel sorry for him. He could have very well had a mental disorder, I know a couple of my customers did have problems with OCD and what not. It was just shocking the first time I heard it, I didn't know what to think

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                        • #13
                          Not all customers do, and some people (like me) do have some disorders that explain their irrationality, but I can assure you that (supposedly) mentally normal people do get INCREDIBLY violent and stupid over not getting their papers. When I work on the weekend (when the office is closed), people will call and scream at me because they can't get their papers. Never mind the papers are delivered at 5 in the morning most days, and that I'm not at work until 12, and the girls in circulation downstairs are there until 1 just for such a purpose. It seems like after 1, everyone suddenly realizes they don't have a paper, and when they find out they can't get one from us at that late a time, they go utterly mental. A typical conversation is typically as follows...

                          Me: "Newsroom."
                          SC: "I didn't get my paper this morning."
                          Me: "Okay, I can transfer you down to the circulation's answering machine-,"
                          SC: "I DON'T WANT TO SPEAK TO SOME MACHINE!"
                          Me: "Sir, the circulation department is gone for the day, the machine is all there is right now."
                          SC: "Well, why is that?!"
                          Me: "It's Sunday, sir, the offices are closed. They were here until 1-,"
                          SC: "Well, what am I supposed to do, then?!"
                          Me: "I can send you to the answering machine, and you can leave a message for them so they'll bring your paper tomorrow-,"
                          SC: "I need my paper today! This is ridiculous, this is *rant rave cuss swear*"
                          Me: "If you want, you can buy yourself a paper and we will refund your money-,"
                          SC: "THERE'S NOWHERE TO BUY A PAPER WITHIN 20 MILES!!"

                          Okay, now, I live in the BOONIES. In a hole in the woods, surrounded by swamp, with one road out, and no neighbors within a mile, and those nearest neighbors are my aunt, uncle and cousins. And I could have my hands on a newspaper within ten minutes and ten miles if I wanted. This isn't arctic Canada or Death Valley, it's TEXAS. Not even the desert part of Texas. There's grass and everything. Civilization abounds. Not to mention this guy lives in the feckin' suburbs anyway.

                          So, yeah, this guy might have had a condition, but trust me, "sane" folks get just as crazy. I've even had some demand that I personally bring them a paper, never mind that I'm just the obit girl and I don't even know where their town is, let alone their street/house, not to mention it's not within 50 miles of me. And when I tell them that in so many words, then they usually demand to cancel their account. ...and then I get to grin and tell them the business office is closed for the weekend, too. Mwah ha ha.
                          "Maybe the problem just went away...maybe it was the magical sniper fairy that comes and gives silenced hollow point rounds to people who don't eat their vegetables."

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                          • #14
                            Aww I kinda feel sorry for this guy. It does sound like he has problems - maybe that is the happiest thing that happens to him all day.

                            As far as newspapers go, I finally cancelled my subscription I got so pissed at how often my paper was missed. I ONLY got the Sunday edition - so they only had to remember me once a week. There were countless times I wouldn't get the paper until very late or I wouldn't get it at all and I would call and call and call and no one would bring it to me - it was just frustrating b/c I used to go through and get hte coupons and then go shopping - and I didn't usually want to wait until 6:00pm to do that - I wasted my whole day waiting around for the paper - granted, I could go out and buy one, but I had already paid for it in my monthly subscription. Then the big kicker - they charged me for 3 months in a row at one time....... b/c they couldnt' charge me the first time b/c my card had expired - which I fixed - and then for some reason they didn't charge me the second month and then all of a sudden I was charged like $20. I figured I wasn't really saving that much money on the coupons I was getting so I cancelled the paper. Anyway - thanks for letting me do a little rant on that.....

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                            • #15
                              Quoth MystyGlyttyr
                              "sane" folks get just as crazy.
                              The "sane" folk are crazy...they've just been able to avoid the guys in the white coats longer than others.

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