I like working with the public as I do at the library, and I am good at it. But there will always be interactions that are impossible to succeed at, and no matter how confident I am in how I handled them, they always feel bad to me.
Here is the one I just fielded moments ago on the phones:
Them: "What time is your notary there?"
Me: "He is here now. What time were you hoping to come in?"
Them (angrily): "I DON'T KNOW WHEN I'M COMING IN! I HAVE BEEN THERE FOUR TIMES AND THE NOTARY WASN'T THERE! I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHEN HE'LL BE THERE. I HAVE TO COME ALL THE WAY FROM MINNEAPOLIS!"
Me: "Yes. Well, he is here today, but it's only one person so he can be in and out. If you have a general time you can be here we can make sure he's going to be here then."
Them: "WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO COMPLICATED! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS. LET ME TALK TO YOUR SUPERVISOR!"
Me: "Okay. Hold on."
My supervisor is also the notary so that works pretty well. I put the person on hold and went and explained the nature of the incoming call to my supervisor.
Here is his conversation as he related it to me:
Him: "Hello."
Them: "What time is your notary there?"
Him: "I happen to be the notary. I'll be here until seven, but I may be out for a while around four."
Them: "Great. Thank you."
That was the end of it, but, an update rolled in half an hour later that I found at least a little more satisfying.
The patron came in immediately after their call for some notary fun, and their interaction with our notary, according to reports, tangled badly from the start.
Their document was specified as needing to be signed by "a Wisconsin notary". Our notary could not and would not notarize the document.
At one point the patron said to our notary:
"You have ruined my entire day!"
Mine, however, improved.
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