#082 In which our hero thinks people are dumb.

I’ve been meaning to post an update about the unemployment thing, but frankly, it’s exhausting enough to live it, let along sum it up in pithy yet humorous postings. But, I’ll do it, as a historical record, if nothing else. Soon, I promise.

But, until then, two things that have been bothering me lately:

Thing #1. Someone please tell me why people suck.

As previously mentioned, I went to the dentist recently. Now, understand: I was referred to this dentist, meaning that I had a referral form, that I immediately gave to the receptionist when I got there. Naturally, this form includes insurance information, the name of the referring doctor, etc., etc. But the first thing I have to do when I get there is fill out another form with all my personal information, including allergies, past medical history, etc.

Now, this isn’t a big deal, except that this is the exact same information I had to fill out for the first dentist. Can’t these guys just talk to each other, do a little cut ‘n paste with their forms?

But the worst part, the part that makes me think people suck, is this: while filling out the form they ask for my wife’s social security number. I don’t know this by heart, but I figure they have the insurance information on the referral form, so they can just get it from that. I complete everything else and return the form.

Minutes later, the receptionist calls me back up to the blast-proof glass booth. Seems I forgot to fill out my name on the form. Now, here’s the thing: they called me by name to come up to the desk to complete this thing, they obviously know what my name is… would it be so hard to take a second and not bother the guy about to have a root canal and fill in the blank yourself? Really, would it be so hard? Also, she points out that I’ve left my wife’s social security number blank, so she READS THE NUMBER TO ME off of the referral form. Christ, she turned this completing the form businesses into a six minute ordeal when she could have done it herself in two seconds.

Thing #2. Someone please tell me why people are stupid.

As part of JOB HUNT 2005 I’m calling agencies and getting the names of the creative directors so I can send my resume directly to them. I don’t know if this helps my chances or not, but I figure it’s worth a minute of my time to call and say, “Hey, can you tell me the name of your creative director?” And actually, since I just went through this bullshit less than two years ago, I’m just calling and confirming that they haven’t left or changed jobs.

Anyway, I call one agency, and the nice receptionist lady answers and I ask her the name of the CD. She pauses for a long moment, then tells me that she’s new, and doesn’t actually know the name of the creative director.

POP QUIZ: If you were in that situation, what would you do?

1. Put the caller on hold for 30 seconds while you looked up the CD in the company directory.
2. Put the caller on hold, call back to the creative department and ask who the CD is.
3. Say you don’t know who the CD is and expect the caller to be satisfied with the answer.

Did you pick #3? Well done, if you did. First, I’m a little stunned that she doesn’t know the CD, but it is a big agency, and if she’s really brand new, that’s forgivable. But for crying out loud, find out who s/he is and tell me! Is it really that hard to figure out? I finally prompt her by saying, “Well, is there maybe someone in your human resources department I could talk to?”
I really didn’t think I was asking hard questions.