This is a story about persistence, the value of education, the continued decline of American companies customer service (and our standards as a society generally) and what each of us can (and should) do about it. So, I have a Clear wireless modem. Didnt work with my older laptop when I got it set up a few months ago. Tried Clears customer and tech support then (several tries), and they were WORTHLESS. Gave up (unlike me but too busy to deal with it). Fast forward to today. Finally focussed on it (a thank you shoutout to Frosty the Snowman). Called USELESS outsourced/offshore Clear tech support. Tried three different times. All USELESS. They kept telling me to call Microsoft. Like, yeah, hello, Bill, can you help a sister out? I kept trying to tell them it must be a simple setting or comparability issue and begged them to walk through the settings with me. How many settings could there be? Surely if the first person had been willing and/or able to do so, it would have taken less time than the multible calls. But no. They wouldnt do SQUAT. So, ok, I used my 9th grade GHS science skills (where I learned the scientific method and the process of elimination - thank you, Ms. Sanda, even though you did call me a smartass once) and, lo and behold, two hours later I can connect my old laptop to their crummy little modem - both wirelessly and hardwired (previously neither worked). Sorry, Bill, maybe next time... Anyone considering using a Clear modem be forewarned: youre on your own or at the mercy of ill-trained people in Manila or Myanmar or whichever cheap labor offshore place du jour. Which brings me to this: America, wake up! We are losing jobs because we are apathetic both in terms of 1) not doing our jobs right in the first place, such that our skills became seen as interchangeable with the cheapest labor areas of the world, and 2) now accepting crap customer service from all our major US companies (stock prices and executive compensation have soared while average Americans struggle to pay bills and eat and find jobs). Education is our only hope. You may not be able to afford fancy schooling, but the public libraries are still free. Read. Grow your minds. No one can ever take your mind and its knowledge away from you. Nothing you ever learn is useless (even geometry, for you skeptics). Teach your children the value of education and dont let them skate by. Make them study - hard. We cannot keep accepting generations of quasi-literate Americans who accept good enuf as the norm. Thats how you get to Clear. Clearly. A democracy needs an educated populace to work. The gridlock isnt only in Congress, its in all of us collectively for accepting their mess and not understanding the issues better so that our vote matters and isnt just cast for the best-looking idiotic ridiculously-polarized talking head. Doesnt matter which side youre on, commit to READ about at least one issue you care about before you vote next (and preferably many). In politics we need to get back to the old good sportsman-like value of may the BEST man/woman win. And BEST includes knowing how to listen and compromise. Lets all accept some responsibility for the sorry state of things and do something about it. Each of us can. Get educated. Its good for you and good for our country.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 06:29:30 +0000
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