But I'm sure your Senator will do it for me!

[Ashaela]

Just got off the phone with a woman who sucked in so many different ways.

Started out all right.... She wanted to know if a particular doctor was licensed in the state. Looked him up, yep, licensed for nearly 30 years. This is roughly how it went down:

SC: Ah, but is he licensed to do surgery?

Me: Well, in this state there's no separate license for surgeons. A physician's license is a license to practice medicine. (And really, how many states still have separate licenses for surgeon specialists?)

SC: I just don't believe that. You all need to change that. This man is killing people! *cue rant; key words = hospice, killing, inconsiderate, hospice transfers, talking down to patients, killing, etc.*

Me: I can send you a complaint form if you like, but we aren't able to create new licenses. That has to be determined by the legislature.

SC: So you're saying I'd have to contact a representative?

Me: That's right.

SC: So who's all your state Senator?

Me: (it's above & beyond, which I won't usually do, but I figure I can google it.) That depends on what district you're in.

SC: No, I want your state Senator in Washington. I want your Senator, and I want your Representatives in Washington.

Me: Well, ma'am, the legislators in Washington aren't going to be voting on state law. You'd need to look up state reps -

SC: I don't want to mess with local people! They won't get anything done. You tell me who it is in Washington.

Me: (forget above & beyond for this one!) I don't have that information available (and I don't feel like doing you a favor!) so you'll have to look it up. Like I said, the only people who make state laws are state representatives, so you'll have to find out what district you're in -

Then the truth comes out:

She's not a resident of the state, but she wants our federal legislatures to "trickle down" and force the state legislature to create a brand new medical license just for surgeons oh dear sweet honeycombs can you imagine the paperwork?

She's not a patient of the physician in question. She can't tell me what district the patient she knows of is in.

She refuses to listen to my repeated explanations of the differences in state and federal government process (don't they cover that in 5th grade civics?) and insists that I give her the names and phone numbers of the Senators and Representatives in DC, and my own full name -

Me: My first name is Ashaela. I don't give out my last name. (Almost true; I will sign it to correspondence, and will provide it for license verifications or to people who aren't antagonistic and don't sound like they're missing a few bolts off the ol' brain-machinery, but we're by no means required to.)

SC: Well, isn't that convenient. *click*

[Soulstealer]

I'm sure the senator's interns will enjoy her complaint before sending her the form letter.

[Dips]

I had to chuckle at this. You just innocently offer some information such as "That's decided by the legislature" figuring it can't hurt.

Next thing you know they latch onto it like a drowning man on a life preserver and you wonder how the hell you got sucked into whatever pointless circular conversation you're having and how the hell you're going to get out of it.

You try to deflect them with logic, stonewalling and one-word answers to no avail and start getting desperate.

Then you give them another piece of randomly innocent information such as "I don't give out my last name" and they just suddenly go away.

Leaving you wondering what the hell just happened.

I understand your pain here. It happens to me too.

[jackfaire]

Along the same lines

I get customer's always wanting me to do away with the taxes or explain what they are for. Uhm I don't know ask your government and find out they are the ones that tell us we have to charge you them.

[Ashaela]

I get customer's always wanting me to do away with the taxes or explain what they are for. Uhm I don't know ask your government and find out they are the ones that tell us we have to charge you them.

There was a lot of that going on with the new cigarette tax hike, too, wasn't there?

A coworker of mine got into it with a cashier - she wasn't blaming the cashier for the new price, just commenting on her frustration - and it resulted in the cashier refusing to serve her at all, not that day or the next time she went in to the shop.

[KitterCat]

In MD the new tax actually backfired. They expected to get double in profits due to it and instead smokers are either quitting (which was the reason given for the tax hike) or going across state lines to get their cigarettes cheaper. After all MD isn’t exactly huge. Instead of making double tax profits they are now making less income than before the tax hike.

As for the "lady", she needs to do her own homework instead of whining for others to do it for her.

[fireheart]

Down Under, the government issues fall into two categories: ID and Plastic Bags.

I get people who grumble at me about the latter and how a "man came up with the idea". Next customer who says that, I'm telling them that "well men shop too and they've dealt with quite the same problems, but because they don't carry around a handbag, they don't have a space to store the fold-up bags that so many places now sell besides their pockets."

As for the former, my workplace tells people to "take it as a compliment" when they get asked for ID (legal age is 18, most places check up to 25)

[jackfaire]

There was a lot of that going on with the new cigarette tax hike, too, wasn't there?

A coworker of mine got into it with a cashier - she wasn't blaming the cashier for the new price, just commenting on her frustration - and it resulted in the cashier refusing to serve her at all, not that day or the next time she went in to the shop.

I don't know I haven't worked retail in a long time I do call center work now.

I don't mind if a customer expresses their frustration at taxes to me I understand that it is when they start demanding I credit them for them or stop charging them altogether that it gets aggravating.

[draftermatt]

In MD the new tax actually backfired. They expected to get double in profits due to it and instead smokers are either quitting (which was the reason given for the tax hike) or going across state lines to get their cigarettes cheaper. After all MD isn’t exactly huge.

That they are. My inlaws are ordering plain tobacco online and rolling their own now.

To the OP, I'm sorry. If my grandmother wasn't in a home (Alzheimer's) I'd have sworn it was her on the phone.