"This call may be recorded for training and quality purposes." Heard before almost any customer support phone conversation, I had never thought much about this warning/disclaimer. But did you know that, when such a phone call is recorded, very often the entire call is recorded, including your time on hold? I heard about an interview with a quality assurance/training guy whose job was to review these recorded phone calls. He said he heard all sorts of things while people were on hold and thought they were in private. Arguments, drug deals, and some things about which he just said that, had the call been live, he'd have dialed 911.
Apparently this is not a new thing, and I suppose it makes sense that the recording machine wouldn't necessarily know if you were on hold or not. One Internet wag suggests using the hold time to describe exactly how you feel about being placed on hold, in the hope that it is being recorded. Anyway, it's worth being aware of and may be a good reason to learn how to work the mute on your phone.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Hold your tongue
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
My life as a pregnant woman
During the last trimester (or more) of her pregnancy, Kerry admitted to enjoying all the attention she got. I'm getting just a taste of that these days (without having to pee hourly) when I go out with O (eg, to the grocery store). People are generally interested to look and smile at him, and make a word or two of conversation with me. I know, saying hello to me is just the price of admission to look at him, but I don't mind; the reflected glow still feels nice.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Do and don't
Over the past few days, I've learned a couple of useful things with respect to 3.5-month-old babies:
DO wash your hands before assembling a bottle of milk. It happens that just a touch of chili is sufficient to transform the bottle nipple from a conduit of sweet nectar into a lit match held to a great pile of Screaming Baby-brand gunpowder.
DON'T cough. Particularly, having just executed a textbook bedtime routine - clean diaper and sleeping clothes, reading a book, (non-chili-flavored) bottle, gentle laying in crib - don't cough. In a remarkable biophysical process, the sound waves of the cough are instantly metabolized by the baby into adrenaline and pain, causing immediate screaming, followed by 45 minutes of inconsolable fidgetiness.
Monday, September 10, 2007
How first-time parents get paranoid
At Owen's one-month checkup, the pediatrician noticed that Owen prefered to look to his right and encouraged us to encourage him to look left (eg, position ourselves to his left). A few weeks ago, Kerry noticed that Tiny O actually had flattened the back right of his skull through his preference for lying on his back - the only way he really can lie - and looking to his right. So we mentioned this to the (different) pediatrician at Owen's two-month checkup. I expected to hear a chuckle at our exaggerated concern, followed by something about soft baby bones and the typical, rounded shape returning once he could sit up, etc. Instead, she said, "Oh yeah, we're seeing a lot of that now that we tell parents to have their babies sleep on their backs. It won't be so noticeable once the hair grows in."
So all the well-meaning advice to us not to worry, that we won't do anything with any permanent affect on your newborn: not entirely true. Due to our disregard for symmetrical sleeping positions, Owen may never be able to play the king in "The King and I".
On the positive side, our redoubled efforts to correct, or at least minimize, the head-flattening led to a cool moment this evening. Owen was asleep in his bouncy chair, with head to the right, natch. I reached down and just turned his head and most of his torso to the left, with only the slightest of stirrings. Kerry was impressed. "Way to go, Dad." I felt like an all-star, even though the credit was really due to his comatosery. I might as well have been proud of shifting a 12lb, 4oz bag of rice in its bouncy chair.