Regionalism?

[Anriana]

(A brief primer for non-Americans: The US is split into different geographical regions, ie the South, the mid West, the Pacific coast, etc. These regions each have different charteristics/stereotypes that have been assigned to them in pop culture)


I've worked at my call center for a little over a year. We begin each call by speaking to the customer about what their issue is, then pulling up their account, including address. It's very easy to see what region of the States each customer is from. My coworkers and I all have our opinions of the different regions; mainly things like region X is "the nice region" and region Y is "the rude region."


I've realized my calls go a lot smoother if I customize things based on the particular region the customer is from. If they have an accent from Region A, I know I have to ask for "the phone number* including* area code" and not just "the phone number." I use different phrases and give different levels of explanation based on the region the caller is from, ie "power cycle the modem" vs. "pull the round, black power cord out of the back of the internet box."


I would say my company serves about four different regions, and I definitely have my preferred and least preferred regions. The customers from my least favorite region are consistently ruder (and every coworker agrees with me on this) and have many traits that greatly annoy me, more so than any other region. Yes, I know everyone living there is not like that, and most of my family lives there, but I dislike having to interact with that part of the country and express that to my friends outside of work. I have had two seperate friends accuse me of bigotry because of my preferences and different treatments to each region. What I have found most interesting about this is that each friend accused me of bigotry against a different cultural group.


So, is changing my call flow for different regions bigoted? Is wanting to move to a specific region because I like the general attidute of the region bigoted?? Is vehemently disliking a specific region because of the general characteristics of the populace bigoted? Is regionalism the correct word?


I wasn't sure if this should be Fratching territory or not so I tried very, very hard to keep things generalized and avoid mentioning any specific regions or characteristics that would indicate a specific region.

[Difdi]

I've occasionally encountered incomprehensible regional slang on the part of other people, generally things they consider to be so fundamental and easily understood it simply never occurs to them they might be hard to understand.

A good example of this is the various terms: bathroom, loo, toilet, washroom, outhouse, backhouse, restroom, powder room, can, john, pisser, ladies, gents, and so forth, that all mean "place to relieve one's bladder & bowels." I've been in places where there are public toilets every block or so, but because you asked for a bathroom, and there are no bathtubs in what the locals referred to as a "public loo", someone asking for a bathroom would never find a toilet.

I've run into the odd bit of opaque regional slang on these boards, for example. What the heck is a "chav"?

Then there's accents. A guy my sister dated for a while used expressions such as "put it up" (in response to a question of whether curtains would match someone's apartment, and uncertainty whether or not to buy them or not in case they didn't). He meant "put them back on the shelf" but the region he said it in those words had a different meaning. And we had a good bit of head scratching to try to figure out what the heck an "OhL Whall" was, when he was talking about his home town.

Cultures differ by region too. What is polite in one region is fighting words in another, and vice-versa. I once saw a friend of mine deliberately pick a fight in a bar by simply by being flawlessly polite to people. Nothing he said was offensive, but the totality of it got this huge guy in a stetson to take a swing at him. Another friend once got a friendly slap on the back and a free beer because his sarcastic insult came across as friendly in that region (the insultee took it as a let-bygones-be-bygones and bought him a beer to make up for it).

So no, I don't think it's bigoted to tailor your response by regions. I would raise the point that you should probably wait for the other guy to be rude before you're rude, but aside from that, go right ahead.

[Gurndigarn]

There is a difference between recognizing that there are differences between cultures and automatically assuming anyone in a specific area (or having a specific skin color, or belonging to a specific group, etc) will act a specific way. Mostly the difference is in how judgemental you are, and how broadly you assume someone will have traits just because of where he lives or what his accent is.

For instance, not a problem:
Knowing that you probably need to tell people from a specific area to add their area code to the phone number.

Problem:
Believing that people from X area are stupid because they don't clue into the fact that you need the area code without telling them.


Or, not a problem:
Knowing that young blacks have a high tendency to like hiphop music

problem:
Assuming that all young blacks like hiphop/urban music and don't like any other music.

freaking big problem:
Thinking that blacks are stupid because they all like that damn crap music.

[Peppergirl]

My first forray into the travel arena was right out of high school back in 88. I worked for a major airline call center. When you answered the phone, a mechanical voice announced the the name of the closest major city they were calling from.

I was warned on my first day out of training to be hyper-vigilant when calls from Fort Lauderdale where announced in my ear.

No offense to Fort Lauderdalians (is that a word), but after about 5 days in the call center, I understood the reason for the warning.

To this day I don't know the reason for why they were so badly tempered in that location, but it was truly awful.

[Broomjockey]

This thread's fine for here as long as it stays general as it's done so far. If anyone even starts hinting at specific areas we'll have to close it before it starts going down hill. But, so far so good.

I've run into the odd bit of opaque regional slang on these boards, for example. What the heck is a "chav"?

There's currently a thread running in off-topic about "British to US translation" that covers it fairly well.

[Argabarga]

My first forray into the travel arena was right out of high school back in 88. I worked for a major airline call center. When you answered the phone, a mechanical voice announced the the name of the closest major city they were calling from.

I was warned on my first day out of training to be hyper-vigilant when calls from Fort Lauderdale where announced in my ear.

No offense to Fort Lauderdalians (is that a word), but after about 5 days in the call center, I understood the reason for the warning.

To this day I don't know the reason for why they were so badly tempered in that location, but it was truly awful.

I'm going to wager it was because there were a lot of stranded tourists trying to get home who weren't in the best of moods?

[Bramblerose]

So, is changing my call flow for different regions bigoted? Is wanting to move to a specific region because I like the general attidute of the region bigoted?? Is vehemently disliking a specific region because of the general characteristics of the populace bigoted? Is regionalism the correct word?

If it is making negatives, then it is bad.

If it means that someone who learned to talk in the Northeast and speaks very quickly sees that the caller is from AR or OK and knows to slow down without being condescending, it's fine. I am not an idiot, you are talking at 45 rpm, my ears are listening at 33 1/3 and I cannot comprehend 3 words out of 5.

In this case it seems to be helping you to ask the right questions, and so far you are not letting the negative observations badly color everything about said region.

[monolayth]

I have learned that when there is a call comming from michigan area I need to make sure I look on the map for their actual location insted of just taking them at their word.

They usually tell me the closest big intersection instead of their actual location. And usually give me the wrong town. (detroit area's towns blend into one another)

[BlaqueKatt]

I've occasionally encountered incomprehensible regional slang on the part of other people, generally things they consider to be so fundamental and easily understood it simply never occurs to them they might be hard to understand.

I'll totally agree with that-I've had several posters and mods(on this and other boards) jump on me for being rude, or threatening towards people for saying something that where I live is totally innocuous but they jump to conclusions, and assume it's wrong and bad. Only one has ever asked "what I meant by that"-realising it could just be a difference in culture or perception-and I explained what I meant which is not how they took it-however they took the time to ask-and I respect that, and will usually do the same. Rather than jump to conclusions.

[Broomjockey]

I'll totally agree with that-I've had several posters and mods(on this and other boards) jump on me for being rude, or threatening towards people for saying something that where I live is totally innocuous but they jump to conclusions.

But by the same token, boards are global creatures, and can exceptions really be made for every vaugery of language that crops up and is defended as a "regional" thing? People need to be aware that their sayings don't always travel well, and maybe try to not use those regional sayings that can cause issues like that. (Refer to the Brit to US translation thread for some good examples)

[zzapp the witch]

I, for one, find it flattering and polite that you would tailor your responses and dealings towards the region you are working with.

When dealing with a Japanese client, would you not study their customs and mannerisms to understand/seem more respectful? My behavior would be very different when dealing with someone from Japan than say....Russia.

You're not being bigoted at all, I think its customer centered and attentive.