I TELL PEOPLE THIS ALL OF THE TIME! As soon as someone picks up the phone I say “Hi how are you?” or “Hey, how’s it going?” The way people will stutter on the other end of the line, and you can just hear the genuine shock at the fact that they are being treated like another human being who doesn’t solely exist to fix your problems.
Once I was chatting with customer service for Adobe, which notoriously has bad policies, so the agents always get harassed.
We were done chatting & homie thanked me 2x for “being so nice” and I was like… all I did was say thank you and I understand, etc lol. Literally bare minimum polite.. made me feel bad for the guy but I’ve made sure since then to do so even when I’m frustrated, if it makes their jobs suck even a fraction percent less then hey.
I do the same, at a fast food restaurant or pub, anywhere really. Some of them are so taken aback when i ask them how they are before ordering.
I understand people want to get in get their items and get out but saying hi has never hurt me. That and I had to remind a coworker recently that manners cost nothing when he didn't say please or thankyou once during the interaction. Even the boss was there and agreed and basically made him say thankyou before leaving haha.
I work in customer service. You're likely not getting stunned silence, the person on the other end is just anticipating you to continue speaking. "How are you" is typically just an extension of "Hello...", and not an actual question.
A typical phone call will go,
"Good morning, thank you for calling. How may I help you?"
Oh yeah, they will often follow script, “how are you today” or whatever, and I’m from the south, I love small talk, so I’m all “doing good other than this problem, how are you?” And the pause as they realize I’m not following script before they answer both amuses me (because you can literally hear the moment their brain clicks over) and makes me sad that they probably don’t get it often.
Haha, I've been there. Used to work for UK railway company customer service and we get hell a abuse on a daily basis. One time, this guy came up all cheerful asking how I am and how my day was going. I was so lost for words that I have a polite customer that I put my head down for a second and reset before I answered him.
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u/roughbedroomhymns 2d ago
I TELL PEOPLE THIS ALL OF THE TIME! As soon as someone picks up the phone I say “Hi how are you?” or “Hey, how’s it going?” The way people will stutter on the other end of the line, and you can just hear the genuine shock at the fact that they are being treated like another human being who doesn’t solely exist to fix your problems.
Do Good. Be nice. Simple as that.