Customer Service
For D.K. Shepard’s ‘Keep it 100 Challenge’
I swallow the lump that’s lodged in my throat,
Ignoring the hurtful words directed at me.
My smile is brittle and close to breaking,
And I imagine shouting a hundred scathing replies.
Yet I refrain from speaking even one,
Keeping my voice dulcet and professional.
When the phone call is done, I close my eyes
Willing the tears away.
Taking a breath, I accept the next caller.
“Hello, you’ve reached customer service. How may I help you?”
About the Creator
Heather Zieffle
I'm an avid fantasy and sci-fi romance writer who enjoys dabbling in other genres from time to time. I have a few self-published books on Kindle so please check them out!
Please enjoy my stories and share your thoughts! Thank you!
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Comments (13)
I've taken calls like this. They used to bother me and I still don't like getting shouted at but my skin is as thick as a rhino's now. They're not penetrating that with their impatience and entitlement - not a hope!
dulcet is such a great word here
Wow, this is such a great story threw the eyes of a customer service worker. We forget what they are going through.
Shucks. This is beautiful. This is hard.
Oh God. I know exactly how this feels.
oh my! this is so so relatable! well written!!
This is excellent, Heather! You slipped the phrase in so naturally I almost missed it! What a thankless and hard job to have! This was such a strong narrative poem for it being so short. I instantly felt a clear perception of the scene and character!
Here is a job with 'not for me' written all over it! Tried it many years ago, lasted three days, lol
Spent many, many years in IT customer service answering phones in a call center and I can't tell you how many times I wanted to tell the person to pack up their computer and send it to me because at least I knew how to use it! Of course I never did.. lol
I've worked as a retail Nutritionist and have had customers who have made me cry. It really sucks. Your poem was so relatable
ah very relatable! worked in customer service on phone many moons ago and this reminded me of the awful calls and dread of them!
Heather Zieffle this Job is to much hard.
Oh no! I could never be in that profession. I mean, I've worked in customer service before but never on the phone. Great take on the prompt!