Lessons from Boredom

I don’t know about you, but I’ve worked in some pretty interesting places.  Some were great-interesting, some were awful-interesting, and some were just interesting.

Enter the call center.

If you’ve never worked in one, this may be a bit of an eye-opener as you’ve undoubtedly called one at some point.  And if you’re worked in one?  Well, some of this may be familiar, though not identical. 

I wound up in a call center quite by accident, and not in any kind of positive way.  After what seemed like an endless string of unwanted life-changing incidents, I handed the keys to my fledgling business back to my silent partner.  He wanted his money back suddenly, and I lacked both the money and the means to get it.  Within a week, I’d spoken to a friend who had a new job in a nearby town, gotten an interview, and was starting the following Monday. 

There were a few other options.  Another friend worked in a factory in a different nearby town, and offered to carpool if I’d like to get in there.  While the money was better, I declined.  I know myself, and how quickly I get bored.  It wasn’t hard to see that as a big problem in our town.  There was a local McDonald’s as well.  And with some past restaurant experience, it was a handy local option where I might rise quickly.  It just wasn’t something I wanted. 

I stayed in the call center for two years, and wasn’t surprised that it, too, quickly became boring.  On the positive side, though, was the fact that between calls we could do other things.  Some threw a ball around, some read, others flipped through magazines.  While I love reading, the endless interruptions were likely to annoy me quickly, and so I brought in my needlework – something I could even do while talking to callers.  I got a LOT of needlework done in those two years!  It’s something that made an otherwise dull environment much better. 

Listening to my teammates was also interesting.  Some seemed super-patient and kept working with callers long after I felt I would have given up.  Others plied their sarcasm just a little too well and were called out by supervisors.  A few didn’t really seem to know what they were doing and ‘escalated’ every call to someone else.  

I enjoyed the caller variety – I spoke with everyone from teens to military personnel and each one was different.  There were some I felt sorry for – talking to people in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was heart-wrenching.  There were some who I couldn’t help but pity and laugh at all at once, and there was a frightening number of (mostly) women who called multiple times a day to track their significant other’s phone “What number did he call last?  How many times?  How long were the calls?  It’s that b****!”  It was easy to see in the client notes how often they called, and I occasionally commented to one of these “if you don’t trust him, why are you there?”.  I’m not sure any listened. 

There were so many lessons here, but one of the best was in how difficult it is to listen to and understand instructions.  In my training class, we illustrated this in pairs on the phone – both partners had identical lego pieces, and we each put together the “same” item while one instructed the other on how to do it.  Sounds simple, right?  I don’t think a single one was perfect – I know mine wasn’t. 

It’s not an experience I would have ever gone looking for, but the life lessons have been invaluable.  I’m pretty good at instructing people how to do things over the phone or via Zoom.  I’ve gained a fair bit of patience in helping people understand things that challenge them, and have further developed my problem-solving skills.  I met some incredible people, and have maintained relationships with many of these.  I’ve also begun to understand that sometimes it’s just ok to accept that there are things you can’t solve, and to let them go.  That last one is a great de-stresser in life!