In Answer to Your Query - Naomi Lazard
Shopping. Customer service. Disappointing the customer with bad news about their order. All of these topics are discussed in this poem. Two things in particular really stood out.
The first interesting thing about this poem is the way it is written. There are three stanzas, but they are not equal: the first is 13 lines; the second is six lines; and the third is 12 lines. However, the third stanza also has an interesting indention at line four. The line is the same number of syllables as the first line of the stanza, but it's indention seems to imply another train of thought almost. The subject is still the same, customer service, but the feeling seems to have changed. Suddenly, the agent (the author, in this case), is showing a cool demeanor, like she no longer cares about the customer's problem. It's as if she is bored with having to repeat the same thing over and over and over, and no longer cares what the customer thinks about the item being out of stock. Anyone that has worked in customer service can relate to this feeling. Certain subjects, it can feel as if you are repeating yourself, even though each individual customer is new to the conversation. The lines following this indention seem to be the thoughts she has in her mind, the things she really wants to say, but cannot.
The second thing is the topic itself. Poetry about work is interesting. This particular line of work is something I can relate to since I have worked in call centers through the years. While I have never dealt with retail customer service, it seems like it is extremely similar. Some of the phrases the author uses sound very cookie-cutter, like they could be used in any setting, just change a few words here or there.
I like this poem because I understand what the author is saying, how she feels about what she is saying, and how she feels on the inside (after the indentation) as opposed to the 'form paragraph' the company seems to have provided for her to use.
The first interesting thing about this poem is the way it is written. There are three stanzas, but they are not equal: the first is 13 lines; the second is six lines; and the third is 12 lines. However, the third stanza also has an interesting indention at line four. The line is the same number of syllables as the first line of the stanza, but it's indention seems to imply another train of thought almost. The subject is still the same, customer service, but the feeling seems to have changed. Suddenly, the agent (the author, in this case), is showing a cool demeanor, like she no longer cares about the customer's problem. It's as if she is bored with having to repeat the same thing over and over and over, and no longer cares what the customer thinks about the item being out of stock. Anyone that has worked in customer service can relate to this feeling. Certain subjects, it can feel as if you are repeating yourself, even though each individual customer is new to the conversation. The lines following this indention seem to be the thoughts she has in her mind, the things she really wants to say, but cannot.
The second thing is the topic itself. Poetry about work is interesting. This particular line of work is something I can relate to since I have worked in call centers through the years. While I have never dealt with retail customer service, it seems like it is extremely similar. Some of the phrases the author uses sound very cookie-cutter, like they could be used in any setting, just change a few words here or there.
I like this poem because I understand what the author is saying, how she feels about what she is saying, and how she feels on the inside (after the indentation) as opposed to the 'form paragraph' the company seems to have provided for her to use.
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