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This happened yesterday.
I volunteer at one of the major hospitals located where I live the first & third Saturday of the month usually answering the phone at Volunteer Services.
There is a computer center located in the hospital which is staffed by volunteers Monday through Sunday. The volunteer who usually works there the first & third Saturday of every month was sick, & so she did not come in.
That caused a big problem for one of the inpatients.
The first 2 calls I received were not bad. I just told the person who was calling that the person who volunteers there could not make it in today. Both were understanding.
The male inpatient was the opposite.
me:" ABC Hospital Volunteer Services. How may I help you?"
male inpatient: "I am calling because the computer center is closed. Why is it closed?
me: "It is closed because the volunteer who usually works there on the first & third Saturday of each month could not make it in."
male inpatient: *now has a condescending tone of voice*: "Oh... so volunteers work there."
me: "Yes"
male inpatient: *now has a demanding tone of voice*: "Here is the problem. I am an inpatient. I have a very important project I am doing for my family using google, & I need to use a computer. Where is there a computer I can use?"
me: "One moment please. I will find out."
I put the guy on hold & I go find the Weekend coordinator so she can help him. She picks up the phone, looks up some information at her computer, & gives him a phone number he can call. She also explained to the guy 1) who staffs the computer center, 2) why there was not a volunteer there & 3) that when a volunteer is not available, unfortunately, it cannot be staffed.
She told me she could have gone up to the computer center & open it up herself so he could use the internet, but since she is interviewing 2 new volunteers today & there is no one else to staff the computer center, all she could do was to give the guy a phone number for him to call for help. She also told me she even though she could have done that, she was not going to do that.
I volunteer at one of the major hospitals located where I live the first & third Saturday of the month usually answering the phone at Volunteer Services.
There is a computer center located in the hospital which is staffed by volunteers Monday through Sunday. The volunteer who usually works there the first & third Saturday of every month was sick, & so she did not come in.
That caused a big problem for one of the inpatients.
The first 2 calls I received were not bad. I just told the person who was calling that the person who volunteers there could not make it in today. Both were understanding.
The male inpatient was the opposite.
me:" ABC Hospital Volunteer Services. How may I help you?"
male inpatient: "I am calling because the computer center is closed. Why is it closed?
me: "It is closed because the volunteer who usually works there on the first & third Saturday of each month could not make it in."
male inpatient: *now has a condescending tone of voice*: "Oh... so volunteers work there."
me: "Yes"
male inpatient: *now has a demanding tone of voice*: "Here is the problem. I am an inpatient. I have a very important project I am doing for my family using google, & I need to use a computer. Where is there a computer I can use?"
me: "One moment please. I will find out."
I put the guy on hold & I go find the Weekend coordinator so she can help him. She picks up the phone, looks up some information at her computer, & gives him a phone number he can call. She also explained to the guy 1) who staffs the computer center, 2) why there was not a volunteer there & 3) that when a volunteer is not available, unfortunately, it cannot be staffed.
She told me she could have gone up to the computer center & open it up herself so he could use the internet, but since she is interviewing 2 new volunteers today & there is no one else to staff the computer center, all she could do was to give the guy a phone number for him to call for help. She also told me she even though she could have done that, she was not going to do that.
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