Destiny

I was a little stuck this week on a subject for this week’s blog.   During the week. I had experienced many positive things as I was returning from Europe.

There was the amazingly positive impact of the Global Entry system as I breezed through the customs hall.  I did feel slightly guilty as I observed the massive amount of people packed cheek by jowl waiting to reenter the United States.   I could have written about several experiences on my trip but then…. a familiar problem swept into my life.   Admittedly it is a problem I face frequently.   I needed to solve a software problem. I don't mean designing software I mean figuring out what the software designer meant when he/she thought I would know intuitively to press the key in the bottom left of the screen, when I was convinced it was the button in the upper right.  After a few feeble tries on my own and multiple “m…fers”…I called the help line.  In a frustratingly sarcastic tone and a few more muffled “m…fers” the gentleman on the phone happily transferred me to……. “Hello, my name is Destiny, how can I help you?”  She was, indeed, destiny for me.

I don't know what part of the country Destiny is in but she sounds like she might have been from the Southern US.  Regardless she was the software solution to my software problem. Let me stipulate that all things digital are not necessarily my forte, so it could have been an easy fix for many, but not for me.   Destiny, literally, spent an hour on the phone with me. She walked me through the solution that required multiple clicks and multiple redirections, passwords and email addresses, all of which were done in an order which was unfathomable to me.  It doesn't really matter what the problem was as all such problems having to do with passcodes and button pushing are challenging for many not just me.  These programs are all designed by humans and the big assumption is that that human will have the same intuitive logic that I do and that is a stretch. 

What was so impressive about this experience is the dedication to arriving at a solution by this woman.  I am sure that all day everyday she deals with one faceless voice after another.  I am sure many are not as kind or understanding as this frustrated prompt pushing internet user.  With amazing perseverance and patience, she walked me through the myriad of prompts and button selections to achieve the stated goal. I am sure she has done this many times before.   What was further impressive to me, was her desire to seek a positive outcome and an appropriate solution. I was a faceless client to her as she picks up phone call after phone call. I don't know if her employer has any appreciation of her patience or her ability to achieve an outcome that is positive for both client and company.

How does one replicate an employee like Destiny? Is she rewarded for this kind of effort or is it just part of the human condition at her workplace that people are seeking an outcome that is achievable?  Achievable by their unique expertise, that expertise may not be incredible and it may not lead to a revolutionary solution but for this moment she was achieving all of what software had to offer.

We live in a world that is becoming more faceless and more impersonal as technology replaces human connectivity.  Where is the training that would allow a woman like Destiny to achieve excellence in a job where she can never know her clients and will never see their faces?  I can only attribute Destiny’s excellence and resolve to the character that only she brings to the job.  Here is to the Destinys’ of the world.  Regardless of what phone center she walks into she and the few others like her distinguish themselves in their humanity to help the faceless frustrated software users of the world.

Thank you destiny I have no other way to thank her other than write about you

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: DESTINY!! DESTINY!! NO ESCAPING THAT FOR ME! DESTINY! DESTINY! NO ESCAPING THAT FOR ME!

Young Frankenstein (1974) Gene Wilder as Dr. Frankenstein