"How are you guys doin'?"

My problem lies within this title. I have heard this line from waitresses, waiters, clerks and other so-called customer service people when I am in a public place - with my lady! Maybe it is a California thing, I don't remember hearing this in the Midwest where I lived until 15 years ago. I was brought up to treat a woman with respect. I cannot imagine my father letting anyone refer to my mother as a "guy". When I hear this from anyone (especially other women) when my fiancee is next to me, I do a double-take. Where is the other guy? I wonder. I think I hear this more from young women more than men. I am not advocating going back to calling all women "Ma'am", but even "folks" works better for me than calling both individuals in a couple - "Guys". Is this as abrasive to you as it is to me?

Thanks for letting me vent.

Here is another gripe I have that you may be familiar with; Customer-service lines purport to solve problems, but present a bigger one: reaching a human being. Your so-called "important" call ("Your call is important to us. Please hold for the next available operator" - while you listen to our on-hold Muzak or worse, our promotional messages) is really not that important. Pressing zero rarely gets you an operator these days. Some computer operators prompt you to speak a request. Then a recorded voice says, "I'm sorry, I did not understand your message. Please repeat it clearly.", as if "I" was a real person!

Here are a few of tips from the Toronto Globe and Mail to outsmart the customer-service phone lines: 1.) If you talk nicely and act confused you're more likely to move to the front of the queue. 2.) The Website - Gethuman.com lists the keypad codes needed to bypass the automated systems of hundreds of companies. 3.) When you do reach a representative, take note of the conversation, as well as any you may have with a supervisor. If all else fails, call the head office and ask for the VP of customer service by name. He/she will probably not answer the phone, but the executive assistant will and that person often has authority to settle problems.

Complexity, uncertainty, and interdependence place demands on an organization to process information in order to coordinate its activities by increasing the communication load carried by that organization. If the meaning of customer service was broken down to one single word, that word could likely be communication. Technologies can set up conditions for organizational conflict. If that is true, then technologies may actually contribute to a break-down in communications. Computers, telephones, the Internet are technologies that are not likely to go away soon, and I'm okay with that. I love my computer, cellphone and what did we do before the Internet, but the human factor gets fuzzy or even invisible at times when it comes to serving us - the customer. However, it's as my father use to say, "Sometimes you have to take the bad along with the good."

Nice talkin' to you guys.