Tales from the Land of Boost

As a general rule, I don't blog about my job (for fear of being dooced, really), but last month, Boost Mobile, the prepaid cell phone company for which I had been taking customer service calls, decided to end their home-based agent program and we were all laid off. As much as working from home was a pretty sweet gig, it did free me up to be able to finally write a post about one of the most, ah, unique experiences I've ever had in any of my many customer-service-focused places of employment.

I wrote the following little snippet in an email and sent it out to just a few close friends. In retrospect, I wish I would've documented more of my calls this way. As challenging as they could be at times, some of them were well and truly comedy gold.

Written on October 30th, 2009.

It's 7:15am this very morning. I'm about half conscious, sitting in my desk chair, wrapped up in a fleece blanket with Lottie asleep on my lap, my nearly-full mug of Awake tea whispering sweet nothings to me as I finish up the process of changing a woman's price plan. Excited that this might be a short call, I nearly tumble over my words as I say:

Me: So have I resolved all of your issues today?

Her: Yes -

From the background, a young male voice starts yelling "WAIT WAIT!! Don't hang up!" There's some rustling as he grabs the phone from her hands. Oh crap, I think. My tea and I share a longing glance at each other.

Him: Hey - are you there?

Me: I'm here!

Him: OK good! So, Imma' sing for a couplea minutes, and then you tell me what you think, ok?

Me: Ok...

He proceeds to warble out a few lines from some cheesy pop song with not very much talent but with immeasurable sincerity, then waits expectantly for my response.

Me: That was great!! (I mean, what would YOU say?)

Him: Aw, you're the most AWESOME Boost rep ever!

Moral of the story: if you need validation, call a customer service rep. Also, clearly, I would totally be the sympathetic, Paula Abdul-esque judge on American Idol.

I hope you enjoyed this Tale from the Land of Boost!