Customer disservice

It happened again the other day. I heard Marilyn, down the hall, talking on the phone.

"Customer service," she said.

Then a little louder: "Customer service!"

Then screaming into the phone:

"CUSTOMER SERVICE!
CUSTOMER SERVICE!!
CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!"

Marilyn was trying to navigate one of those automated voice menus that you reach almost every time you call a credit card company or a bank or a department store. This one was voice-responsive, or so it claimed.

"Which department do you want?," the disembodied voice had asked her. "For 'customer service,' say 'customer service'. "

Which Marilyn was trying to do, and the irony of the situation was not lost on me.

Fortunately, there is a website out there run by people who have gotten fed up with having to suffer through endless menus that ask us to "say or press 1" for this and that, with the result of being navigated to even more menus, all of which become an annoying blur and raise one's blood pressure.

So, as a public service, allow me to present http://www.gethuman.com/. The site has a database of workarounds for various companies, as well as some tips on how to get through to a human being wherever you call.

And, yes, this is health-related. Stress has been shown, anecdotally at least, to raise one's lymphocyte count. High blood pressure can lead to heart attack or stroke. Think of this as a medical necessity.