On Mon, 27 Oct 2003, Kevin Tarr wrote:
> I had to set up an account today with a new bank. While waiting in the
> junior account manager's cubical, I overheard one of the bank tellers
> respond to a customers question by saying "it's because of Bush's
> Patriot Act" The customer, an actual little old lady, responded by
> saying "I hate that man." The two then went into a back in forth about
> everything that was wrong, from the air and water to the economy to of
> course the war. I was smiling broadly at the conversation, it was like
> overhearing two seven-year olds talking about where babies come from.
> (That may be too young for the analogy, but I think my point is clear).
> The person waiting on me saw my reaction and rolled her eyes, saying the
> teller has been warned about discussing politics, she'll bash Bush or
> Republicans every chance she gets and other customers have walked out or
> complained.
>
> I just thought it was funny but now I'm wondering how others see it. I
> took a class in customer relations last week. While commiserating about
> bad weather or something good a customer said was encouraged, stating
> opinions outside the business transaction can be detrimental. (And I'm
> saying this both ways, if the teller was stating that Clinton had people
> killed or Governor Rendell is a cross-dresser it'd be just as outside
> the pale.)(Of course, a small group on the list will say, 'everything
> they say about Bush is true!')
Well, a talk show host in Austin got fired several years ago for agreeing
with a caller that someone should kill Clinton.
Something about it being illegal to threaten the President of the United
States on radio in the US....
While the bellyaching about Bush doesn't fall into that extreme a
category, it's still not professional. And sometimes people get fired for
not being professional.
And if a manager builds a long enough paper trail regarding inappropriate
speech with customers, firing's always an option. (Paper trail needed to
cover one's ass, lest the ex-employee come back and sue. Which I've seen
happen.)
Julia
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