Not a Problem ... Now That's a Problem

I'd say this one fits in the "Really?" category. Sometimes this blog just writes itself.

So one of the many things my group was just starting to get used to around the time I started is that part of our evaluation process would include recordings of our phone calls. Four calls would be randomly pulled every month, and scored on 13 different categories. Basically everything from how you answer the phone to how you say goodbye gets a score from 1-4, so 52 is perfect.

This all started for real last month, and a couple of weeks ago my boss pulled everyone in individually to show us the score for one call, what the forms look like and how this part of our evaluation will work.

I had no idea what to expect, but my first evaluation went pretty well. I got a 49 out of 52, which I can't have any complaints about. One point came off because at one point I let there be too much silence while I was waiting for something to come up on my computer, and I'm supposed to try and keep a conversation going. Ok, that makes sense, lesson learned.

The other two points were a little different, I lost two points in one category because towards the end of the call I used the dreaded phrase that apparently shakes our company to the core:

Customer: Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it.
Me: Oh ... not a problem ...

Can you believe I did that? How can I even possibly have a job, let alone succeed? Yup, apparently at some phone etiquette seminar or something, the managers of our team were told that the phrase not a problem is really bad because ... wait for it, it's as though we are saying "oh, if it were a problem, I wouldn't help you."

Really? Is that what it's saying? Or maybe it's a friendly way of saying, it's our pleasure to provide you with this assistance, don't even think twice about calling in because that's what we're here for. This never would have become a big deal, until we had a group meeting a week later and my boss happened to bring up in the meeting that I had points knocked off my score just for saying that little phrase. Then it became this huge thing among the people in my group, and of course, because we're all talking about it, now I'm saying "Not a problem" NON F'ING STOP. I remember one call shortly after the meeting where I"m sure I said it 5 times in about 10 minutes.

Then it just became a joke among the group. No matter what the conversation was, pretty much every time we spoke to each other it ended with Not a Problem. After about a week of this, we won, because we randomly got an e-mail from my boss that said using the phrase not a problem will no longer be a negative score ... as long as we aren't excessive with it. Still kinda silly, but much further down the ridiculousness scale. I'm eagerly awaiting the next normal phrase we aren't allowed to say.

These are the songs I keep singin'
I picked up a new ipod last week, and I"m very happy about it. The gym is so much better with it as is just about any other activity where I'd rather not hear the random crap (i.e. people) going on around me. My first chance to block out this crap was the ride into NYC for the Yankee game last Saturday. I wanted to post this because I think the playlist was a solid example of my decently sized (although nowhere near this guy) but eclectic music collection (comments in parentheses when I feel like it).

Tailspin - moe. (best studio song from a solid jam band)
Bring tha Noise - Public Enemy w/ Anthrax
I'm Gone - John Cunningham (the last song he played at his last Pitcher Wars at The Brewery)
Cry Me a River - Justin Timberlake (ok ok, mock if you must, but it's a really well produced pop song and it pretty much single handedly destroyed Britney Spears)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - AC/DC (no explanation necessary)
Dead and Bloated - STP
C.R.E.A.M. - Wu-Tang
Constructive Summer - The Hold Steady (keep pretending this band doesn't exist, I like it that way)
Rusty Cage - Johnny Cash
Beverly Hills - Weezer (they have many songs that are better than this, but it's so damn catchy)
Disarm - Smashing Pumpkins (more on this band later)
It Ain't Me Babe - Bob Dylan (need to see this man live)
Disorder in the House - Warren Zevon (it's Zevon and Springsteen doing an anti-Bush song, if you don't like this, I don't like you)
Walls - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (finishing up an excellent Dylan/Zevon & Springsteen/Petty trio)
Melatonin - Silversun Pickups (Silversun Pickups is what would happen if Smashing Pumpkins and an emo chick banged, had a kid, and that kid became a band)
Word is Bond - House of Pain (yup, from the album they released after the one that had Jump Around on it)
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me - U2 (possibly the first one I'm slightly embarrassed about, but I'll argue it's the only good thing from Batman Forever)
Allison Foley - Better than Ezra (yes they made more songs than Good, lots of them, and if you don't listen, your loss).

Listening To: Marker in the Sand - Pearl Jam
About To: collapse in my bed before 10pm, what a wuss