I'm really sorry it snowed. REALLY!

[Slave to the Phone]

As some of you might know, AZ got some snow last week. We were hearing doom and gloom on the news for a week previous, mostly translated as "This is going to be major, stock up, hunker down and don't travel on Thursday or Friday unless you don't care if you die."

It was such a major event that my food stamp office, located next to the city that used to be the capital, along with 16 others, actually learned on Wednesday that we would be closed on Thursday and Friday. This really never happens.

The snow started Wednesday night, dropping about 8 inches before morning. It snowed until Friday night with a total of 24 inches in the area I work.

Today was the first day we were open, and it was a total cluster. I'm on the front counter , checking people in this month

I had this conversation too many times to count:

SC: The deadline for turning this in was Friday, but I couldn't get in because of the snow. Will you take that into consideration?
Me: Yes, this office was closed on Thursday and Friday because of the weather, we sure do understand why you couldn't get here.
SC: WHY WASN'T SOMEONE HERE!!! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY CLOSE BECAUSE OF A LITTLE SNOW? I WAS THINKING ABOUT COMING IN ON FRIDAY AND NOW YOU ARE SAYING YOU WOULD HAVE WASTED MY TIME/GAS/RISKED MY LIFE FOR NOTHING!!!
Me: hands over a piece of paper with the Governor's name, mailing address and phone number. This is the person who closed the offices, you could contact him if you want.
SC: Oh, no, I don't want to be a bother, I just want to turn this in.

I also got yelled at because we didn't come in over the weekend when the roads were reasonably clear. Hands over piece of paper. Oh, no, I don't want to bother with that, I just wanted to tell you that you should have been here.

[Buzzard]

"Oh, I don't want to put forth any kind of effort. I just wanted to bitch juuuust enough for you to fix everything for me, including the crap that *I* screwed up in the first place."

[taxguykarl]

You normally don't get that kind of snow in your neck of the woods, do you, STTP?
It's not like the SC could have planned ahead (sarcasm). Also what's the problem since the deadline was extended for that reason?

[Sparklyturtle]

Once a long time ago, as a favor to my boss, I typed up a list of approved abbreviations for our hospital, necessary for hospital accreditation. Oh, the constant complaints: "Why did you use Other Department's abbreviations instead of ours?" I was just the typist and typed what I was given, which I repeatedly told people. I finally got tired of all the complaining and the threats to go to the hospital commander, and started giving out the name and number of the colonel who was the overseer of the list. Then he called me, all upset: "Why are you giving out my phone number? People keep calling about that list!" I told him I was just the typist, and nobody seemed to believe me because I kept getting calls about what was on the list and how I should have done it THIS way instead of THAT way, etc. He told me not to give out his phone number, but my boss told him, "Not until the list is finalized." (Boss and I were civilians, so we could say things like that.) The list was supposed to be finished in 2001; as of 2004, when I moved away, it was still being argued over.

[Ironclad Alibi]

As some of you might know, AZ got some snow last week. ...

Back around 1980 I was on a trip to New Mexico (the state, not the country). We were crossing the Sierra Oscura mountains on Rt 380 in a snow storm. My companion had the foresight to buy a bag of salt. Half way up the mountain we got stuck with several cars behind a tractor-trailer rig stuck in the snow. Since we had the salt, I got out, put some under the wheels and my friend was able to get traction on up the mountain, bypassing the stuck traffic. I then had the pleasure of walking up the mountain to meet him at the top.

[Kit-Ginevra]

There's a NEW Mexico?So one of our 50 isn't missing?

[notalwaysright]

I WAS THINKING ABOUT COMING IN ON FRIDAY AND NOW YOU ARE SAYING YOU WOULD HAVE WASTED MY TIME/GAS/RISKED MY LIFE FOR NOTHING!!!

"YOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED ME!" lol. From the other thread.

So they're mad because IF they had decided to drive in, nobody would be there. Well done, way to be the opposite of responsible. If you would RISK DEATH but not make a phone call or check online, that's really your problem not mine.

[MoonCat]

I honestly believe that in cases like this, the employee should ALWAYS be allowed to say, "Why should we risk OUR lives coming in here in weather that YOU deem to be too dangerous to travel in?"

We used to get idiots like this at the newspaper, too. Every time we had a really heavy snow and the paper was late, the phone lines would be inundated with people demanding to know where their paper was, why it was late, blah blah blah. When told it was late due to the weather, they'd bitch because somehow those trucks should have been able to get to their destinations despite Snowpocalypse happening outside.

[Ironclad Alibi]

There's a NEW Mexico?So one of our 50 isn't missing?

Since when is it "your" 50? I thought we settled that issue 243 years ago.*

*Actually it was Spanish at that point in time. Part of it become USA territory in 1812 (part of the Louisiana Purchase), most of the remainder in 1848 (Mexican-American War), the final bit in 1853 (Gadsden Purchase), and a state in 1912.**

**Yes, I'm sitting here being bored waiting for Mrs. IA to wake up from her nap so I can take her to get coffee and discuss dinner plans.

[Slave to the Phone]

I have lived in this area for 30+ years and have never seen a storm like this before. It really was record breaking.

Even if the office hadn't shut down, there wasn't a single worker who could have gotten there with their usual mode of transportation. None of our clients own cars (or at least they say they don't*), so if we couldn't have driven to work, how would they have gotten there? None of that matters, someone should have been here if/when they need us. (There are other options, but nobody wants to bother with them. There is an 800 number they can call. They can do their applications online and download their stuff. They can fax or email or even mail their stuff.)

I have worked retail/customer service all my life. I have worked Black Friday. I was the point of contact for 7 Dice franchises. I have never had to deal with so many entitled, rude, demanding clients as I do now. Some of them are very nice and polite, but the others outnumber them by a very large percentage.

I hate working the front line. I have learned to toe the limit of the snark line, and my slips of paper with government officials' contact information are not quite crossing the line (but entertain co-workers if they happen to notice me doing it). Whenever someone complains about a rule/policy/regulation they don't like, I offer the contact information in my normal, polite voice. "I certainly do understand why you would think that way, but I can't do anything about it at this level. Here is the contact information for someone who might actually be able to help."

We are also required to ask people if they want to register to vote AND have them fill out a form** (mark yes or no, sign and date) at every contact. Sometimes people have complicated cases which require them to come back several times. When I have someone fill that form out the second or third time, they complain. I agree and tell them that we are required to do this and offer to call a supervisor over so they can tell someone who might be able to do something to help.

Despite me begging, other workers agreeing and even the supervisor encouraging the client to talk to a supervisor, not ONE single person has been willing to bother, despite knowing that they will be sitting in the lobby for at least an hour before being seen by a worker.

I like being in my nice safe germless cube, speaking to 1 person at a time and being in control of the hold button.

Wow, looks like I had some ranting to do. Sorry for the digression.

But yes, I am really sorry that it snowed. I am also very sorry that the snow is melting and making everything slushy and wet. The sidewalks are clear, I watched you walk in and see can by your clean clothes that you didn't really fall, but you could have. The building manager is right over there, I can call her so you can tell her where the possible slip danger is. No? Are you sure? OK, here is your number, have a seat in the lobby, it looks like about a hour.

*so why is the parking lot full when the lobby is full?
**The forms also include half a sheet of paper which is required to be given to the client. The signed half gets counted daily, stored by date, a report emailed and regular mailed, the boxes of forms go to a storage facility and are kept for 7 years.

[Racket_Man]

SC: WHY WASN'T SOMEONE HERE!!! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY CLOSE BECAUSE OF A LITTLE SNOW? I WAS THINKING ABOUT COMING IN ON FRIDAY AND NOW YOU ARE SAYING YOU WOULD HAVE WASTED MY TIME/GAS/RISKED MY LIFE FOR NOTHING!!!
.

Ya know here in CheeseHeadLand Central, as others up here can testify to, when everything shuts down and the mayor and police chief come on the air to say STAY OFF THE STREETS IT IS FOR A FREEKIN GOOD REASON oh say for public safety, easier for emergency personal/vehicles to get around, dangerous driving bad road conditions, etc.

So you know what happens my company stays open and then complains when we the drivers complain about the weather and how bad the roads are and the customers complain when we have 90+ minute delivery time during a blizzard. Never taking into account that I am literally risking my life, health and car to deliver their crappy cheesey pie.

[Valentinian]

You normally don't get that kind of snow in your neck of the woods, do you, STTP?
It's not like the SC could have planned ahead (sarcasm). Also what's the problem since the deadline was extended for that reason?

Yeah, why wasn't SC's second line "Oh good! Thank you."?

[Pagan]

Since when is it "your" 50? I thought we settled that issue 243 years ago.*

*Actually it was Spanish at that point in time. Part of it become USA territory in 1812 (part of the Louisiana Purchase), most of the remainder in 1848 (Mexican-American War), the final bit in 1853 (Gadsden Purchase), and a state in 1911.**

**Yes, I'm sitting here being bored waiting for Mrs. IA to wake up from her nap so I can take her to get coffee and discuss dinner plans.

*SIGH*

We were Spanish from 1598 until 1821.
We were Mexican from 1821 until 1848.
We were a US territory from 1848 until 1912.
We became a state in 1912.

Signed,
A New Mexico native from the area of the Gadsden Purchase.

[Nunavut Pants]

I'd never heard of the Gadsden Purchase before, thanks!!

[skeptic53]

We had a once-in-a-decade snowfall just prior to the AZ storm. Our clinic didn't close. We had lower staffing but since in our area it does snow once in awhile, many of us were able to make it in. Patients were calling "I can't get to the clinic but I have pneumonia/UTI/ADD/sciatica, can you send antibiotic/Adderall/narcotics to my pharmacy?" Our clinic is on a main arterial just off of one of the major state highways, both plowed and sanded. If you could make it to the pharmacy, you could make it here... In fact many of the pharmacies didn't have their parking lots plowed but ours was.