the HI life

Let's be totally real for a second - working in customer service is hard.  The amount of stupid people I can come in contact with in one day is staggering.  With my work schedule, it's 4 days a week at 10 hour days.  Do you know how many crazy people you can come in contact with in 10+ hours?  A lot. On top of the crazy stupid people, customer service is really repetitive.  I can't even tell you how many times I sometimes repeat myself in one conversation.  It's more than you think.  And customer service can sometimes be really really really frustrating.  No matter how many times I repeat myself or how super nice I am, there are always going to be those people who are going to give attitude or just don't want to hear what I have to say.  It's irritating beyond all belief to have people brush you off or ask you a question you were literally about to tell them the answer to if they had waited .00004 seconds to let you finish.

But I got the best reminder about my job the other day!

It was a typical day.  Average amount of stupid, and I was wearing my regular "so done with this day" 3:30 attitude.  My coworker came to tell me a party was late, and I'm not gonna lie, my first reaction was "surprise surprise".  Well the party showed up early enough that it didn't cause too many problems.  But as I was ringing up the customer and she said something that caught me off guard.  She looked me in the eye and simply said: "Your job is hard."  I thought she was just sort of joking so I just gave a little chuckle and a sarcastic "Yeah it is."  But she kept pressing and telling me that my job was hard and she understood.  She went on saying that she "get's it".  People not listening, not following directions, not giving you a chance to actually do your job, and how frustrated I must get sometimes.  I found myself nodding as she continued to list things that I think about my job on (almost) a daily basis.  And then she stopped, looked at me seriously, and then said this:

"You are so lucky.  You're lucky because you work in one of the most beautiful places in the entire world.  I mean...LOOK AT IT.  If ever you're having a hard day, I want you to go down those steps right out there and just look. Look at those mountains, look at that sky, and know that you are so lucky."

And she was right.  In the hustle and bustle of my job and every day life I forget that...I LIVE IN HAWAII.  Few people get to say that.  And better yet, I work in one of the most beautiful places on the island.  True, outside of my little office I don't get to see as much of it as I like, but the parts I do get to see are breathtaking.  I stumbled upon a video that Youtube's devinsupertramp filmed at the ranch a few years back and it captures the essence perfectly.  So enjoy the video, come see it in person one day. ;)