racists in NJ

[smileyeagle1021]

could the people in NJ please chime in and tell me that this guy is NOT typical and just a douche (well, actually he's just the most recent)

These calls are coming in from Tom's River way too often

me- everyone's favorite CRS slave
sc- racist bastard
cw- really big black dude

me- reservation desk, this is smileyeagle speaking, how may I help you
sc- yes, it's been a while sense I've been down to Toms River, can you tell me what has changed in the last 10 years? (that's actually not sucky, if I'm doing my job right he'd never know that I was in CRS, and that does seem to be a valid question)
me- I'm sorry, I'm probably not the best person to ask, I only moved here 2 years ago, in the last 2 years not much has changed, there's more people living here than 2 years ago, but that's about it.
sc- is it still a good area? (once again, not that sucky, but is starting to lead to the suck)
me- yes, Toms River is still a pretty upscale area, we are right by the beach so I don't think it's possible for us to go downhill.
sc- oh, and is it becoming more diverse? (odd, but I could see it being legit with the way he phrased it)
me- sure, I don't think there's anywhere in the country that isn't getting more diverse.
sc- are you black? (whiskey tango foxtrot)
me- I'm sorry, what?
sc- are there black people working there? (omg, I did hear him right)
me- yes, there's at least one black person who works here, a few hispanics too if you must know.
sc- oh, I guess I'll have to reconsider staying there.
me- and was there anything else I can assist with?
sc- you never answered my question
me- no sir, if you must know I'm not black.
sc- oh, i'm so sorry you have to work with them, maybe next time you'll get a better job *click*
me- *quickly removes myself from the call rotation, somewhat visibly shaking*
cw- what happened
me- you won't believe that jackass
cw- what did he do
me- he basically hung up because I told him black people worked here.
cw- next time you get someone like that, transfer them to me... I don't care if I get fired, I'll put them in their place.

I love my coworkers... I hate my callers.

[Fungus]

Next time just tell him all whites work there and laugh at him when he gets there.

[Jester]

Amusingly, my parents lived for four years in Tom's River before they moved back to Arizona....again. (That being their fourth and--so far--last move to Zona.) And it is a VERY nice place.

What Douchebag Racist Boy failed to realize is that there are nice places with black people and crappy places with white people (Globe, AZ anyone?). Black does NOT equal bad neighborhood. Are there bad neighborhoods with black people living there? Well, of course. (Newark, NJ anyone?) On the flip side, are there wonderful places with black people living there? Well, of course. (Scottsdale, AZ anyone?)

Frankly, if I had to judge where I was going to go based on whether there were black people there or not, I'd end up living in some out of the way, backwoods, rural bum fuck nowhere. Sorry, to boring for me, and black people don't offend me.

ASSHOLES offend me. Sadly, it seems there is NOWHERE to go to escape those nitwits.

As a side note, your tag says you live in the SLC area....why would you lie to the guy and tell him you live in TR when you don't? When I used to get calls at 1-800-Day's Inn that asked about particular places, I would answer if I could, but more often than not, I would simply explain to them that I was in Phoenix and couldn't really answer their question, as the call center is not on-site. Just wondering why you didn't do that.

[smileyeagle1021]

Next time just tell him all whites work there and laugh at him when he gets there.

that's the thing... I don't actually know the racial make up of the hotel... I'm outsourced... for all I know the hotel really is staffed entirely by white people (crs does actually have a very diverse staff... at least by utah standards)...

edited to answer jester's question-
I told him that I lived in Toms River because the company requires it... the call was forwarded from the Toms River location, they are paying us to "be at the hotel"

[Jester]

So I ask again, why didn't you just explain to the person that you didn't live anywhere near the hotel?

Now, I am asking hypothetically, as the SC in question didn't really deserve an answer to his inane question. But when he first asked, you didn't know he was a goatfucker. And in the future, wouldn't it be easier for all around when they ask questions about the property you don't know the answer to if you're just honest with them about your location not being the same as the property?

Just wondering. I'll shut up now and go back to my cooking.

[Raieth]

I heard of hotel policys that state that they must never tell the customer that they aren't on site. Even if it means lying repeatedly in one call.

Note: I don't work in a place like this, just saying what I heard.

[smileyeagle1021]

I heard of hotel policys that state that they must never tell the customer that they aren't on site. Even if it means lying repeatedly in one call.

Note: I don't work in a place like this, just saying what I heard.

you would of heard about us... if we break our "credible presence" at the hotel we can be disciplined for it...
which answers jester's question... I have no choice... if I want to stay employed I can't just tell guests where I really am unless they called the 800-number and already know they are talking to someone off site.

[Jester]

Okay, so it's not your fault. I got ya. Let me say here that that is an incredibly stupid policy. If a company really wants to give their customers the best service possible, they will allow their employees to be honest, and not force them to put up some charade that, at times, will be impossible to pull off.

For example, if I called your company and started asking specific questions about a hotel in the Phoenix area, it probably wouldn't take long for me to figure out you aren't anywhere near the Valley of the Sun. And if I were an SC, this could cause problems. ("Why are you lying to me, telling me you're in Phoenix, when it's obvious you don't even know about the area? I wanna talk to your supervisor!" Blah blah blah.)

I think you did a good job considering how much you were being forced to lie.

[Becks]

could the people in NJ please chime in and tell me that this guy is NOT typical and just a douche (well, actually he's just the most recent)

Sad to say, he's not alone in his feelings, judging by some of the people I work with.

[smileyeagle1021]

oh, you'd be amazed just how much we can pull off from the call center... it helps that our internal website has almost all the information you need to sound like a local... what it doesn't have we have learned google-fu to compensate.

[DesignFox]

Sadly, Smileyeagle, there are some people that think that way. A lot of the older generation in the central/southern areas of New Jersey still equate black people with bringing in problems. There aren't too many people that I've encountered with that attitude but they seem to come from those areas and are generally older or tending towards elderly...

On the other hand, there ARE parts of New Jersey you shouldn't step foot in if you're white, since you're likely to be shot...but I'm happy to say that most of New Jersey isn't dominated by either group of racists.

MOST people here get along just fine...and a lot of areas are sprinkled with enough different types of people that it's not a big deal. Being on a coast, we get ALL kinds from ALL over the world. We'd be in big trouble if the majority of us didn't find some way to at least accept, if not like, one another.

But yes, we have our boneheads like any other state.

[Sheldonrs]

There are parts of NJ that would be great if it weren't for the people.
I grew up there and left when Ii was 28. If my sisters and nephew and his wife didn't live there, I'd never go back there again.
I remember when I was about 18, my family and I heard gun shots coming from a cop car chasing another car. Now the car they were "chasing" wasn't going fast or anything and nobody from the car was shooting back.
My sister had friends on the force there and found out that the cops were shooting at the car because they knew the owner of the car was gay. That was the only reason.
As a kid, I got beat up a lot because I was Jewish and personally responsible for killing Christ.
I saw teachers treat black and hispanic kids like crap.
And now white students are the minority at my old HS. But things have only gotten worse. Everyone hates everyone else.
And even today, don't drive a cheap car in Upper Saddle River at night. And if it's daytime, don't stay there long either because the cops will stop you to find out what you're doing there.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Well, where I live I don't encounter such attitudes much. I'm less than an hour from Toms River (depending on traffic, 30-45 minutes). I don't know the area all that well, though Ex works down that way.

[Misanthropical]

There is a lot of racism where I am against Blacks, but mostly Hispanic. I don't care either way, since I'm not a people person to begin with, so color doesn't matter much to me.

I do have to say though that we have the best and most considerate neighbors living next door to us and they are Hispanic. I hope they never move. Plus, they throw great parties.

Now, if I was a racist, my friend would throw me out of her car in a heartbeat, since her husband is Black. We do throw around Italian jokes though, since she is Italian and I'm married to one and the mother of three partial Italians.

My friend and I have shot dirty looks at another coworker though, since she seems to have some weird hatred of Italians and is always complaining about how they talk and their "attitude". I don't know if she hasn't noticed my very Italian last name and/or how Italian my friend looks or if she just doesn't care about pissing us off. I may have to take her for a ride.

[flybye023]

Okay, so it's not your fault. I got ya. Let me say here that that is an incredibly stupid policy. If a company really wants to give their customers the best service possible, they will allow their employees to be honest, and not force them to put up some charade that, at times, will be impossible to pull off.

Sad to say, SmileyEagle's company is not the only one who does this. The company I worked for was based in the Midwest; I live in the Pacific Northwest. If our customers asked us, we were supposed to tell them we were in the state the manufacturer was. If they persisted, we were somewhat allowed to narrow it down.

Example:

Customer: Where do you work?

Employee: In a call center for <Company>

Cust: Where is your call center?

Emp: In the United States.

Cust: Which state?

Emp: <whichever state we were in>.

Basically, if they really wanted the answer they could get it after several questions, but the answers stopped at the state border . We didn't have to tell them the city.