Jul

8

A welcome change




For one of the many work at home jobs that I have done over the years, I used to have to visit with elderly people on the phone.  I know a lot of people who would wrinkle their nose up at the idea of talking to any stranger on the phone, much less a senior citizen.  And I’ll admit, I was a little nervous about it at first.

I have to say, when I made those phone calls it never failed that I ended my work day feeling pretty good.  Most of the time when I get phone calls from people I know its a crazy, rushed conversation. 

“Can you pick up the boys from swimming, then I’ll grab them for lunch and baseball?  Oh I forgot about snacks, have to run by the store.  Ok see you in 30 minutes gotta go bye.”

How many conversations like that do you have in a day?  For me, its a lot.  Like most moms I’m constantly juggling the pick ups and drop offs and rescheduling the schedule.  Cah-ra-zy.

But when you call an older person, you have no choice but to SLOW DOWN. Way down.  You talk slower and louder so they can hear you.  And once I got past the annoyance of having to slow down the mad speed that I usually talk at, I realized something.  These people liked talking to me.  As soon as it was clear that I wasn’t selling anything, which I wasn’t and I said so up front, they relaxed and clearly enjoyed talking to me.  They told me stories about their children and grandchildren, asked me where I was from, and always, without fail, told me Thank you for calling honey/darlin/dear.  And they said Have a good day, and clearly meant it.   Not in a hurry up and get off phone way, but honestly, Have a good day.

Makes me wonder, do the people I talk to on the phone feel like I really wanted to talk to them?  Actually, I realized I don’t really talk to most of the people I call, I talk at them, rattling off whatever important message I need to get across. 

I’m working on slowing down, being more pleasant to everyone, on the phone and in person. Listening instead of just thinking about the next thing I need to say while the other person is talking.  Meaning it when I tell the store cashier to have a good day. It made a difference in my day, hopefully it will in theirs.  Surely it can’t hurt.

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    Filed Under Me, confessions | 3 Comments 

    3 Responses to “A welcome change”

      1
        MIkki on July 9th, 2009 4:18 pm

        Ahhh.. slowing down. I have days that are so slow I almost think I’m lazy, but then the crazy busy days kick in and I rethink that ..

        Glad to see you will be taking a slower pace these days.. May you seeing blessings in the slowness :-)

      2
        Sheri on July 9th, 2009 6:56 pm

        There will always be those crazy busy days, at least as long as the kids are at home :) I need to balance them out with some lazy days.

      3
        Kari on July 9th, 2009 9:28 pm

        When I used to work as a registered nurse, most of my patients were elderly. Many had come into the hospital from nursing homes. I adored taking care of them and talking with them. For many, you could tell how much a little one-one-one personal conversation meant to them. I really loved it.

        And, yes, it is good to try and slow down sometimes. I need to work on that myself.