Funny Foreigner

[AngieDoogles]

So...my husband just got off the phone with Charter (our internet and cable provider) because I received a bill today that says we are two months past due (with lots of late chargers!) This isn't possible because we have automatic payment through our bank account set up...so if they didn't receive the payment, it's because either they messed up or the bank did. Anyway, when my husband asked why the payment wasn't made automatically, the poor guy who could barely speak English said... "You see, we are humans and we make mistakes, and they are machines, and the humans make the machines." LOL! That's it. That was his whole explanation. So we still don't know why they didn't receive our payment, but it was pretty funny so I thought I'd share.

Ahh...the joys of outsourcing...

[Mandy]

LMAO Angie, thats hilarious! Im sure that kind of made you laugh about the situation, with a comment like that.

[DianaB]

That's funny, but yet, it's not funny. I think that a lot of our service calls are transfered out of the country and we are talking to people who can barely talk and understand the english language. It makes me upset to get ahold of someone like your husband got.

Do you know that here in Kansas that english was finally made Kansas's official language? It makes you wonder if we're about to lose that fact. I could go on and on about this but I won't. It's a sore subject with me.

[AngieDoogles]

I agree Diana. It's funny, but not at the same time. I hate outsourcing...

[Marilyn]

It's just going to get worse, ladies. I work for a very large company. Our division headquarters is in Orlando, FL. Our IT department was there and when we needed any help, we would call and talk with Jeff or someone who was very nice they would connect to our computer and fix the problem. It still basically works the same, but the person you are connected with is not Jeff, it's someone in India where it's 2 a.m. and he or she is trying to understand and fix our problem.

My hubby is hard of hearing and has a Dell computer. Their support is also in India, and he cannot understand them no matter how hard he tries. One of our daughters has to call them for him.

In my work I communicate with people globally and with many foreigners who are over here, so I have learned to listen well and understand them. Also, I am not afraid to ask them to repeat themselves and repeat back to them what they said until we both understand.

You would be absolutely amazed if you really knew everything that is coming from Asia and Indonesia these days, way beyond the normal consumer goods you see day to day at Walmart. I don't know what the future has in store for our country. I do believe that our generation and perhaps the one immediately following will be the last to be able to afford the quality and size of housing and other goods that we have been taking for granted.

Sorry this is so long, but I could really get on my soapbox on this issue. I see it and work with it everyday. The evolution of our economy, goods and services is so accelerated right now.

It's no wonder the price of domestic service and all domestic service related industries is going up. The high paying factory jobs are going away. More and more people are in the service industry in jobs that traditionally have been lower paying. These jobs must now support families, so the wages and the cost of services has to go up. Think about it.....

[Marilyn]

One other thing and then, I'll be quiet on the subject. It's the ordinary people like most of us who will be unable to afford the nicer homes. There will still be the very rich who we support with our labor and who profit from all the outsourcing.

[AngieDoogles]

I agree completely Marilyn. That's why I hate it so much! I almost wish it were illegal, but then you get into first amendment rights which is really touchy. I just wish people were not too greedy and then there would be no need for a law...

[Marilyn]

It's really hard to know who's to blame. It's kinda the chicken or the egg thing. We demanded lower prices so big business looked for a way to lower their cost to give us what we wanted. They discovered outsourcing, but..... they soon discovered that the cost of oursourcing was so low, they could actually lower prices and make more profit. We were greedy, they were greedy. The idea got really popular and we were all happy for a while until things got carried away. Did big business drive this, or did we the consumer's drive this.

Our government should have realized what was happening though and taken steps to do what was right for the wellbeing of the public, but then they are human too, and greed caused them to listen to the lobbiests funded by big business who were giving them perks to look the other way.

Everything is cyclic. Chaos eventually moves toward equalibrium, so things will balance out, but China and India will be come richer while we get poorer. We've lived so much better than most of the world for so long, the balance is starting to shift. Hopefully is will be slow enough that we can adjust rather than a sudden economic crash.