Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences
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Well, two things: 1. How do you know they’re white? They’re calling on the phone, so all you can go on is a voice, and even if you think you can tell someone’s race from their voice, you’re probably only right half the time. I know plenty of black people who some might say ‘sound white’, and vice versa. 2. I think you’ll find that the people you’re talking to on the phone aren’t a cross-section of all the white people in Anniston, or in Alabama, or the US at large. The people you’re talking to are all people who called you to complain about something. So of course they complain. They called a customer relations hotline. That’s my theory, at least. One thing I’ve discovered while I’ve been alive is that people of all races complain. Most people.
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Name : Frank25174, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 18, City : Memphis, State : TN, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,I do not know how much what you have realised from your job in the call center, I think it is black people who complain the most. They have quotas in Universities in many cases 16% while they make only 12% of the population. Why dont we have quotas for in the NBA for South Asians (or any other Asians) like me or Whites or Hispanics. Yet blacks keep on complaining about every thing and keep on making conspiracy theories. I agree I have lived in America for only six years, I think that Whites being a ‘privileged’ group is an idiotic lie. Their ancesters were, but todays whites are not. And most of my S. Asian Desi freinds have never complained about facing racism from Whites, but there are few cases when they have from Blacks.
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Name : Ramesh-Jain, Gender : M, Race : East Indian, Religion : Jainism, Age : 25, City : LA, State : CA, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,how can you be certain that 98% of the calls are from white people if they’re on the phone? i think everyone complains if they feel as if some injustice has been commited against them.
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Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 19, City : Sacramento, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I am curious as to what type of customer service you are providing? Specifically for what type of product or service? Could it be that you are supporting a product or service of which ‘privileged’ white people happen to be the primary users . For instance, if you were working in a Computer Customer Service center, and the majority of PCs sold are to white people, it only stands to reason you are going to hear from mostly white folks. Of course if this is not the case, we simply have to chalk it up to the fact that we whites are a bunch of malcontents.
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Name : George21655, City : Manchester, State : NH, Country : United States,White people have grown up with the best of everything. We’re told that we deserve the best – that if something is not ‘right,’ it should be fixed. So, we complain. On the other hand, (and this is just a guess) the black community spends so much time and energy just to trying to get something, anything, that there’s no reason to complain, for they wouldn’t get what they wanted anyway. Also, I think this has a lot to do with self-confidence. Self-confident whites are who are complaining, whereas so many blacks lack the self-confidence (thanks to whites) to try to make changes in a dominant white society.
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Name : Colleen32001, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 20, City : Jacksonville, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : college student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I used to wait tables, and no one complained like African Americans – even my black friends who waited tables said the same thing. Also, in college and in all my jobs, African Americans have complained about more stuff than anyone else. Maybe your help desk provides a service that predominantly white people use, rather than them being disproportionately complain-prone.
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Name : Ruth29510, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Newark, State : NY, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Complaining has not been a ‘natural’ activity here in the UK, to the point where recently TV consumer programs have been trying to encourage people to complain when they receive poor service and/or shoddy goods. Most of the time we just grumble about it among ourselves, but don’t actually do anything about it because it could be perceived as time-wasting or rude. I would advocate complaining if it were a genuine issue, as sometimes it’s the only way a business finds out if something is going wrong. Perhaps white America has taken this on with a little too much enthusiasm, or perhaps there’s some reason why black customers feel they can’t or shouldn’t make complaints?
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Name : Paul30476, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Gloucester, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom,You didn’t mention what type of help line you work on, so it’s tough to say why it’s mainly white people calling in. But my guess is that you answered your own question: they’re privileged and are not used to being inconvenienced. I think it’s also important to note that you should never underestimate the number of knuckle-dragging morons out there clogging the streets, since idiocy is color blind.
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Name : KT, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Omaha, State : NE, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I’m a white woman and have worked with the public in a variety of capacities for most of my working life. My last job was as a cashier at a major department store in Potomac Mills, Woodbridge, VA. You say you work in a call center, so respectfully, how can you be so sure of the race of so many of the callers? Potomac Mills, being so close to D.C., is a major tourist attraction in northern Virginia. As a result, I’ve waited on and worked with people from all over the world – white, black, Asian, Middle Eastern, Caribbean, etc. – and every conceivable variation. I’ve learned through experience that people generally are pretty much the same toward people waiting on them: some are courteous, some are just having a hard day themselves and some are just plain mean. Some deliberately pick fights with the cashier, etc. just to make trouble for someone who’s not in a position to talk back. Others find things to complain about in hopes of getting discounts or other special privileges – and I’m sorry to say this, but it often works. In my experience, store brass rarely protect their employees from such abuse. They won’t give you credit for the 99 people out of 100 you’ve pleased. They only chew you out for the one you couldn’t.
Having said all that, there are only a couple of racial or ethnic or age differences I’ve noticed among the literally thousands of people I’ve waited on: 1) Older people are less likely to shoplift. 2) Customers, whether male or female, tend to treat male employees with more respect than female employees. 3) The worst (narrowly defined) customer there is is a white woman who’s never had to work outside the home. And as I said, I’m white myself. The bottom line is that some people are kind, no matter their background, and some are jerks. And there’s plenty of both kinds in all ethnic groups.
I am now a substitute teacher. I love it, and handling kids of all ages has been a snap compared to some of the horrors I have had to wait on.
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Name : Roberta29554, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 41, City : Jackson, State : TN, Country : United States, Occupation : Substitute teacher, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I noticed the same thing when I went to a predominantly white college. It seemed like some students couldn’t understand that the world did not revolve around their own wants and needs. I’ve also heard people from other countries say similar things about Americans in general, and I think it comes down to the privilege you mention. With privilege comes a sense of entitlement. If you are used to having things your way, you expect any and everything to be the way you want it to be. You expect people to accommodate you, even if it causes a problem for them. If things aren’t the way you want them, you feel you have the right to complain, even if it is something minor. It also doesn’t help that Americans have a ‘customer is always right’ mentality. That attitude makes people think that if they complain and yell enough, they’ll get their way.
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Name : Johnna29335, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 27, City : Montgomery, State : AL, Country : United States,I can speak from some experience on this, as I was a customer service representative for a large financial institution for almost four years. In that time, I answered approximately 140,000 calls. My take on the white/ black / red / yellow question of ‘who complains most’ is this; The people with the most time on their hands did the complaining. In as much as it is difficult to determine race by voice, there are occasions that offer some indication with a fair amount of accuracy. For example, if you heard someone with Locust Valley lockjaw say ‘Lovey, Ask the driver to pick up the Rolls after my afternoon tea, and have the maid fluff the pillows a little extra tonight’ you probably couldn’t get past picturing Thurston Howell III with his sailor hat and day coat. So to some degree you can guess who you are speaking with. And based on that, my experience is that the complaints came from every color, flavor and nationality. In all the time I was on the phone, I never ended a day feeling that a particular group of people were any more or less likely to be or act a particular way. Ignorant and learned minds know not the bounds of race or gender. MarronBella, I am curious to know what type of business you answered calls for. Is it a type of Business/Service where you would be more likely to speak to a particular gender or race? For example, do you work for Clairol’s ‘Hair Coloring for White Chicks’ complaint hotline? I’m making a joke, but I am serious in that the type of business just might have something to do with the type of calls received.
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Name : Dave, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 34, City : Long Island, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : Technical, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Middle class,They complain in order to get results. Whites do not just accept whatever is given/done/handed to them the way blacks do. (Yes, these are sweeping generalizations, but you get the point). A white person can get a parking ticket and never give up the fight against it. On the other hand, it just seems as if black people have been conditioned to accept the okey-doke and just complain among ourselves. Granted, there are a great many who will fight and get what they are due. More of us need to do the same.
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Name : Latonia, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 28, City : Buffalo, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,I work on a military installation with a broad scope of diverse cultures. I can tell you from experience that whining is not limited to whites. From what I have seen, it is an American pastime. What’s so ridiculous is that so many Americans; black or white, think they should NEVER have to hear the word ‘no,’ should never be inconvenienced and should always be accommodated. It’s hilarious if you visit other countries where people survive on so little and are grateful for what they have. It’s a primary reason other countries call us, ‘arrogant Americans.’ And it makes it very difficult when Americans work hard and contribute much, yet get stuck with this label by so many others.
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Name : Alma-J31445, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Methodist, Age : 49, City : Kempner, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : government employee, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,You’re cutting against the stereotype here. When I was working as a cashier, my fellow workers and I wondered why black people complained so much. And I’ve heard the same thing in other places. Maybe people notice it more when people from another group complain. Maybe almost everybody who buys your company’s products is white. Maybe the place I worked attracted a bad crowd. I don’t know. I never call complaint lines. I think most white people would be surprised to hear you get so many calls from white people.
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Name : Matt22025, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 25, City : Sacramento, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Software Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Because we think we are the only race that can now be legally discriminated against. Yes, I know that is the stupidest statement you have probably heard, but it is true. Many white people seem to have no idea about what black people go throgh on a daily basis. For example, in Britain, black men are more likely to be stopped and searched by the police. Most white people don’t even believe that white privilege exists. I have heard comments along the lines of ‘lets hope there are no Aztecs, because they practice human sacrfice.’ The implication being is that if there were, then because of multiculturalism, human sacrifice would become legal. As someone who has educated myself about black people’s issues, I find that abhorrent.
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Name : Gary21768, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 21, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : Web Page designer, Social class : Middle class,
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