Customer Service

There is a reason that certain people work certain shifts. Case in point:

I got to work & was sorry that I'd left my waders at home. The hallway to my office -- MY hallway -- could have accommodated a small school of fish. The ceiling tiles above had suddenly become rainclouds, and I had to slog through an inch of water to get to my office. I quickly paged the 3rd shift mechanics and waited for a response . . . and waited . . . started my computer up . . . plugged my headset in . . . checked my email . . . and then the phone rang! I rushed to explain the sudden appearance of a lake in my hallway, only to be told "yeah, we know, we're working on it. Bye."

Hmmm....

Okay, so I call housekeeping to request a wetvac for cleanup, only to be told that all the "extractors" (read: wetvac) are a floor above me, cleaning up after a flood in the Cardiac Diagnostic Lab (CDL).

Hmmm....

The next call I got was from housekeeping, wanting to know what's going on with the flood from the fountain. I say, "good question, let me find out & call you back."

Hmmm....

Long story short: Housekeeping asked us to drain the large fountain on the main level, so they could clean it. Standard procedure, we turn a wrench, water goes out, they clean, we turn the wrench the other way, water goes in, no problem, no flood. Unfortunately something didn't go as planned -- depending on which department you ask, either (a) housekeeping added too much water, or (b) maintenance missed a cracked seal in the fountain. Either way, water has rushed through the main level floor, into the CDL, through the CDL floor, all the way down into my hallway.

Hmmm....

I manage to explain this whole thing in a paragraph, and yet it was at least an hour before I had the complete story, which I told to at least a dozen people who called for information. By adding the prefix "pro" to the word "active" we obtain a term that DOES NOT describe the actions taken regarding this minor flood. Rather than taking a few minutes to make a few phone calls, the mechanics left me the responsibility of finding out what happened and disseminating the information. Nice.

I remain convinced that there is a specific reason people work the 3rd shift, and it isn't to take advantage of their pro-active customer service skills. Grrr.