I received a call Wednesday afternoon for someone wanting to talk to my husband. This person was someone that the hubby knew, but I had never talked to in my life. She started rattling off her phone number before I had a chance to grab a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. I said, "you gave me that number so fast, can you give me it again?" Her response back was, "didn't your husband "train" you to take messages?" Wow, I was caught so off-guard by what she said that I didn't say anything. First of all, she never once asked me who I was (I guess she assumed I was the wife). Second, I felt that what she said in regards to my husband "training" me was kind of offensive. If I knew her, maybe she could say something like that. She doesn't know me from a hole in the wall. Lastly, after I told her that I would send my husband a message at work through e-mail to let him know that she called, she made a comment about my husband that was out of line too. This isn't the first time that I've been caught off-guard by someone. Lauren tells me I "shut down" when someone says something that I don't know how to respond to. I have never been one to think quickly on my feet that way. I can usually think of something after the fact that I should have said, but by then it's too late! When the hubby came home and I explained more in detail what this woman said, he at first didn't think it was a huge deal. A little while later, he said how I might have been bothered, especially since I didn't know the woman. I told him that this woman's boss should know the way she talks to people on the phone. I was a receptionist and I answered the phones as part of my job. I never would have talked to a client's family member like that. When you answer the phone for a business, you are the one that gives the first impression of a company. I never in a million years would have asked someone if their spouse had "trained" them on how to answer the phone. I guess this person thought she was being funny, and maybe I was being a little overly sensitive, but it was still rude! How do you handle things when you're caught off-guard? do you "shut down?" or do you have a witty retort at the ready??
We are heading towards 600 orders for Dominic's business. Since our long-term goal for Baked Goods By Dominic is having a "brick-and-mortar" and hire those with disabilities, it is essential and imperative that I continue to teach him all parts of the business. Since I prompted Dominic for so many years for speech, he has become "prompt dependent." What that essentially means is that he will look at me for a prompt, like, "what do you do next?" I do that one a lot. Dominic has been going to a private speech therapist for over ten years and she reminds me often that Dominic usually will know the answer, if I am patient and wait for him. That has been a very hard habit to break! Dominic has an incredible memory, so I put it to the test this morning. I didn't write out the steps, I wanted to see how much he could do completely on his own. We have a customer picking up his order today, but the only thing that had been done is putting the cookies into t...
Very rude of her to use "training". I do the same thing you do. I don't think of a good response until I finished talking with the rude person.
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