Stupidity Rant
Jul 18, 2005 1:39:04 GMT -5
Post by Lamron on Jul 18, 2005 1:39:04 GMT -5
The nature of my work requires that someone be available 24 hours to handle emergencies, so we just take turns being "on-call". Seems simple enough. There is a special pager that is used for all after-hours pages, and whoever's turn it is to be on-call carries that pager.
The answering service just needs to page that ONE number. It never changes, and someone ALWAYS has it with them. So far, so good. Almost foolproof.
One of our administrative geniuses decided it would be a good idea to give the answering service all of our individual pager numbers (usually turned off at the end of the work day) and a copy of the on-call schedule, so they would know who is on call (even though they have absolutely no need to know WHO has the pager). Of course, the schedule is written a month in advance and is never followed because we all trade days around to fit our personal schedules.
BUT WAIT, WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO THE STUPID PART YET.
So I'm on-call this weekend, and they start paging me on MY pager, that I luckily still had on. So I call the answering service and tell them to call the right pager. They say "sorry, I fix that right now, won't happen again".
We repeat this process (wrong pager / me call them / them promise fix) FIVE MORE TIMES.
BUT WAIT, WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO THE STUPID PART YET.
They don't even consistently do it wrong, about 2/3 to the correct pager, 1/3 to the wrong pager. Their supervisor INSISTS that this isn't possible, they just push a button and the page goes out. More promises that it is being fixed as we speak.....
BUT WAIT, WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO THE STUPID PART YET.
So far we just have continuing bumbling incompetence from every staff member at the answering service and from our administration that started the whole mess.
NOW WE ARE AT THE STUPID PART.....
Yet another call on the wrong pager. I get the page because I assumed they would screw it up again and left that pager on and with me. I wouldn't have even bothered to complain about it, except that the page said to call the answering service directly.
I tell them again, YOU ARE CALLING THE WRONG PAGER.
She says, "no, I called the right number".
I say, "I am GETTING the pages on my personal pager, but they should be sent to the ON-CALL PAGER."
(you'd better sit down and grab ahold of something solid!)
She says, "There must be something wrong with YOUR pager then."
.
.
.
There was a moment of stunned silence as I tried to catch my breath, and I realized that I MUST be misunderstanding her. So I asked her to repeat that..... AND SHE DID!
I would have bet good money that it was physically impossible to say something that stupid without having a stroke. I can't imagine saying something like that without being suicidally ashamed of my own existence.
Somebody was actually that dumb BY THEMSELVES! Usually you would expect that it would take 4-5 morons making a diligent, concerted effort to come up with a statement like that.
From the deepest, darkest, coldest depths of the black pit of idiocy comes an event of such hideous imbecility that wise men weep, tear out their hair and put on sackcloth and ashes.
I was in shock and couldn't even speak. I just said goodbye and hung up. Now she will have to live with the guilt of saying something that stupid for the rest of her life.
Its bad enough that people like this exist, but do we have to give them jobs? or even let them out of the basement?
The answering service just needs to page that ONE number. It never changes, and someone ALWAYS has it with them. So far, so good. Almost foolproof.
One of our administrative geniuses decided it would be a good idea to give the answering service all of our individual pager numbers (usually turned off at the end of the work day) and a copy of the on-call schedule, so they would know who is on call (even though they have absolutely no need to know WHO has the pager). Of course, the schedule is written a month in advance and is never followed because we all trade days around to fit our personal schedules.
BUT WAIT, WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO THE STUPID PART YET.
So I'm on-call this weekend, and they start paging me on MY pager, that I luckily still had on. So I call the answering service and tell them to call the right pager. They say "sorry, I fix that right now, won't happen again".
We repeat this process (wrong pager / me call them / them promise fix) FIVE MORE TIMES.
BUT WAIT, WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO THE STUPID PART YET.
They don't even consistently do it wrong, about 2/3 to the correct pager, 1/3 to the wrong pager. Their supervisor INSISTS that this isn't possible, they just push a button and the page goes out. More promises that it is being fixed as we speak.....
BUT WAIT, WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO THE STUPID PART YET.
So far we just have continuing bumbling incompetence from every staff member at the answering service and from our administration that started the whole mess.
NOW WE ARE AT THE STUPID PART.....
Yet another call on the wrong pager. I get the page because I assumed they would screw it up again and left that pager on and with me. I wouldn't have even bothered to complain about it, except that the page said to call the answering service directly.
I tell them again, YOU ARE CALLING THE WRONG PAGER.
She says, "no, I called the right number".
I say, "I am GETTING the pages on my personal pager, but they should be sent to the ON-CALL PAGER."
(you'd better sit down and grab ahold of something solid!)
She says, "There must be something wrong with YOUR pager then."
.
.
.
There was a moment of stunned silence as I tried to catch my breath, and I realized that I MUST be misunderstanding her. So I asked her to repeat that..... AND SHE DID!
I would have bet good money that it was physically impossible to say something that stupid without having a stroke. I can't imagine saying something like that without being suicidally ashamed of my own existence.
Somebody was actually that dumb BY THEMSELVES! Usually you would expect that it would take 4-5 morons making a diligent, concerted effort to come up with a statement like that.
From the deepest, darkest, coldest depths of the black pit of idiocy comes an event of such hideous imbecility that wise men weep, tear out their hair and put on sackcloth and ashes.
I was in shock and couldn't even speak. I just said goodbye and hung up. Now she will have to live with the guilt of saying something that stupid for the rest of her life.
Its bad enough that people like this exist, but do we have to give them jobs? or even let them out of the basement?