Delivering Consistent Happiness

This week I sent the following email to various city officials. Some (unnecessary to this post) details have been edited or deleted.

DOUBLE STANDARDS AND FALSE PROMISES

On Tuesday, August 12 I arrived at the Lake bus stop at 6:15am for the 2A Connector that was supposed to arrive approximately 6:30am. It never came.

On Tuesday August 19 I arrived at the Lake bus stop at 6:20am for the 2A Connector that was supposed to arrive at approximately 6:30am. It never came.

I am starting to see a pattern.

I won't go into detail about August 12th: the multiple calls made, and the fact that on a majority of the phone calls it kicked me into a voice mail system where I received a message that the party I was trying to contact had not set up their voice mail (very clever), and the assurances that the bus was on the way (though what was on the way was the next scheduled bus), and the fact that if they would have said it was the next scheduled bus I could have crossed the street and caught one sooner, and the realization that if (heaven forbid) they would have thought ahead they could have suggested I cross the street, and the fact that they made excuses such as "a software glitch" instead of taking responsibility, and the fact that I missed breakfast so as not to be late to work once I did catch the next bus, and the fact that multiple others were late for work.

I guess I just went into some detail.

On August 19th: At 6:40am I began walking and calling, and got kicked into that devilish voice mail system 2 or 3 times before someone finally picked up. I spoke to Mr. Smith and in fairness to him I was upset, but I (without thinking) assumed they would understand my frustration and have a little empathy since it was their system that failed. I said "Where the Hell is the 2A Connector? This is two times I have tried to catch it at Lake Park and it has not shown up." Mr. Smith indignantly responded that if I continued to curse at him he would hang up. I remained frustrated but used no more language that might offend sensitivities. He made no attempt to empathize, understand, or calm me, but instead chose to fight fire with fire (which, by the way, seldom works). I told him I was now walking to Central (the transit offices) and would like to see a manager. He said she was there and he hung up on me while I was still talking.

I said the word "Hell" in the context of a commonly used phrase. Come on... Does he or do any of us hang up on friends when they use a bad word? Do we admonish people using bad language in public? Do we never get frustrated ourselves and use bad language? And perhaps most importantly, do your bus drivers kick people off the bus for bad language? As a long-time bus rider, I can answer the last question, and I think you can too. Please note that I am saying 'bad' language not 'offensive' because for the most part and in moderation 'bad' language does not offend me, and I am not asking your bus drivers to kick people off the bus for using it. But you cannot have a policy to dismiss some customers (by hanging up on me) for the use of the single word 'Hell' and not carry that policy over to other customers for the more frequent use of a variety of other creative (and at times, entertaining) profanities. I believe the truth to be that Mr. Smith simply did not want to deal with an angry customer so he hid behind that single word.

I was not swearing at Mr. Smith. I don't know Mr. Smith. And I believe to take something personally you must personally know the offending party. To me Mr. Smith was 'The City', and I was upset with the city for twice telling me I could catch a bus at a certain place, at a certain time, and not delivering on that promise.

I also have to say that I do not blame Mr. Smith; he should not become a scapegoat or be thrown under the bus. I again blame the City and its management for not properly training Customer Service Agents on how to deal with complaints. I agree that no one should be subjected to someone cussing a blue streak or threatening violence. That was not the case. I was upset and loud, but I was rational and I had a legitimate complaint. You should train your people to recognize the difference and listen more to what is being said, ignoring (as best as possible) how it is being said. His response should have been, "I understand you are frustrated and I want to help, so if you can please calmly explain the situation, we will work at resolving it." If I would have heard that, I could have skipped most of these last four paragraphs and went directly to my thoughts below.

Upon arrival at Central on August 19th I spoke to Ashley. We agreed to disagree on a couple of points, she was truthful and said that under current circumstance she could not reassure me that this same thing would not happen tomorrow morning when I will try for a third time to catch that bus, and I figured out that she does appear to care about the performance of her responsibilities and taking care of her customers. Since she does care I can only guess that the challenges keeping her from doing so revolve around people, planning, and bureaucracy.

  1. You need more people and more dependable people.
  2. Since the Connectors are your two key routes, you need to figure out how to ensure they have drivers. Apparently one of the problems on at least two of the eight days in this span (August 12th and August 19th) was that substitute drivers had been assigned to other routes before management knew that a Connector driver was not coming. Ashley suggested that if the starting times for the Connector routes were moved back, that would help to avoid this (software?) human glitch.
  3. Bureaucratic shackles restricting Ashley from performing efficiently, must be removed. Are there budget constraints? Hiring restrictions? Hiring priorities? Does a central HR (if there is a central HR) understand the sense of urgency? Is there someone in an Ivory Tower dictating red tape? Have you ever ridden your buses? Have you ever waited an hour for a bus that was supposed to arrive in 15 minutes? Quite frankly, I DON'T CARE how you answer these questions. I just want to see my bus arrive on time tomorrow morning. If it does not, I promise you will know.

END OF EMAIL

If someone fails to deliver on a promise, they should be held accountable; and though that may involve some short-term unpleasantness or pain, I believe it ultimately does more good than harm.

If someone has a personal belief (or an organization has a policy) that they keep in a drawer and determine implementation based on an avoidance of discomfort or pain, the inconsistency will thwart learning and stunt growth.

If Happiness is (as I maintain throughout this site) one's search for Truth and Wisdom, then any effort (regardless of delivery) to encourage empathy, compassion, and a shared responsibility also has the potential to advance a communal Happiness.

If one is in a role as a representative of an organization, one should conduct themselves as such by diluting personal ego with a degree of professional pride and accomplishment appropriate to the circumstance.

There are situations that make it difficult to rise above one's Humanity. I believe there are also circumstances that may require a certain 'passion' (code for anger) to first get someone's attention before calmer discussion can take place. I know that I use this reasoning much more frequently than I should, but I believe in this circumstance - in the moment - it was necessary. Some would argue, claiming that this is not consistent with my previous encouragements for 'Compassion for the Oblivious' (Here). I disagree. As we progress from 'Compassion for the Oblivious' to a 'Communal Responsibility' I believe this sharing requires (even demands) that we hold each other accountable for undelivered promises and inconsistent thought.

As I write these words it is 6:36am on August 21st and I have been on the bus for 7 minutes. Yesterday I received two responses to my email with reassurances of investigation and resolution, and promises of follow-up.

Perhaps you 'can' fight City Hall - We will see...

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One Response to Delivering Consistent Happiness

  1. Pingback: Contradicting Happiness | hopelesshappiness.com

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