On a recent trip, storms raged in Dallas and Charlotte, practically halting American Airlines operations nation-wide.
My flight home was canceled and I ended up on the phone with Luciana in customer service, trying to rebook me so I could get home. Mine was only one of MANY flight cancellations that day, so I knew she was about to have a really busy day full of frustrated and probably not very nice people.
At the end of the call, I said “I hope you have a good day and not too many people yell at you!”
She laughed, and gave me the most profound, sage wisdom I’ve ever gotten on a customer service call. She said, “When people are mean to me, I think two things. First of all, I understand why they’re angry so that makes it easier. Second of all,” she paused. “Can I be honest with you?”
Of course I said ‘yes’, because the good stuff always comes right after somebody asks if they can be honest!
She said, “When somebody’s mean to me, I remind myself that I don’t even know them and their words don’t even matter, so when I hang up the phone, I pretend I’m flushing a toilet. You don’t feel bad about saying goodbye to pee pee or poo poo”
(She literally said “pee pee or poo poo”! I almost died!)
“And so as I hang up, I say ‘flush’ and their words go right down the drain!”
I just thought that was so hilarious, and such a great way to not take on other people’s mis-directed frustrations.
We all end up in those situations sometimes, there’s often nothing we can do about it, and it’s usually more about them than it is about us. So just flush it, and move on!
Thanks Luciana!!
