2002-10-29 - 10:55 p.m.
So far it is a dark week, quite literally, because it keeps raining and the sun hasn't been out for days, and even at high noon we have the lights on. Now that the time has changed, my days at work seem to stretch on into the night, and I feel suddenly catapulted into winter. Especially this week, when I have to be the "supervisor" at work because Mr. One and Mr. Two are out of town attending a conference. I am Ms. Three, which doesn't mean a whole lot unless Mr. One and Mr. Two are both gone. Our office is kind of like the military: the authority is handed down the chain of command, even though it becomes somewhat toothless by the time it reaches the lower ranks.
But bright spots come from unexpected places, and I have had two of them this week. One of the clerks called me and said that a student was asking to speak to a supervisor. And....gulp....that would be me. I don't mind supervising the staff, we all get along fine, but I hate being the person of last resort when someone wants to unload their frustration. And in our business, we usually don't have to interact with people unless they have a problem. So okay... I get on the phone in my most pleasant voice (that works sometimes)... and the voice on the other end says: "I would just like to make a positive comment..." She proceeds to tell me what good service she has had from a member of the staff, how helpful and knowledgeable the person was.Wow. She was so nice, and I know the person she was talking about does a very good job, so it was my pleasure to write up the compliments in an e-mail to the boss.
People feel so free to complain, and tell you off and get mad, but I have had so few people, in all my years of public service, actually take the time to make a compliment or say thank you. It is amazing how good it can make you feel.
And not once, but twice in the same day. When I came back from lunch, there was a square blue envelope on my chair. I opened it and inside was a card, thanking me for my help. It was signed by a young couple, from another country, who had asked for a tuition refund after they had medical and financial problems. I had never even met these people in person, but we had talked on the phone, and I had wanted to help them after reading their letter of appeal. A Hallmark moment... sure... and I may be a little bit sappy, but I was touched that they would take the time to stop by with a card.
I admit I always try extra hard to help people from other countries if I possibly can. I just cannot imagine how hard it must be to navigate all the bureaucracy of this country if none of it was familiar and you were trying to communicate in another language. I have an enormous amount of respect for people who are brave enough to go and live in a foreign country.
So that was my day. I have had students yell and threaten and curse and cry. Someone even threw a punch one day ( not at me, though). I have called the campus police and told them, if anyone ever goes postal and shoots us all, be sure to check out the angry guy in the battle fatigues... (And given the events in the news, those perceptions are treated as more than idle speculations. Working with the public can be kind of scary.) But today, two people decided to say thank you, and they may never know how much it helps. It reminds me that people still have hearts. It reminds me to say it more often myself.
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