Humor, as a customer service tool, Word-Play, and Parody as Comedic relief
A Matrix-reloaded parody
One Matrix parody, with George Carlin as "The Architect"
I Love: Et-y-mol-o-gy (noun)
The dictionary definition of etymology is as follows:
"The history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language." Merriam-webster
"An individual who loves etymology and word-play may be a person (often a writer) with an extensive vocabulary, and a monstrous predilection for obfuscated or polysyllabic [and sometimes colloquially goofy] loquaciousness." StvRich
It is important to make your customers happy
You must PLEASE, your customers if at all possible, so- aside from simply working hard at whatever task I must complete to satisfy a customer need, I do like to make them also smile with a little light humor.
One of the things I do to pass time and to also make a dollar, here and there, is to work as a carpet-cleaning franchise. It is simple work, and easy to do, as long as you have the ability to perform the physical task successfully. That's no sweat for me... And I do love real physical work, as well as the intellectual work. So, in all my business, I usually present myself with a serious and respectful as well as, professional demeanor to customers, I do like to speak clearly, to speak well, and intelligently. Usually seeking an uncomplicated and direct manner that is concise, and cogent, in common English. I have a long history in customer support, and received professional corporate training in help-desk styles of customer assistance. I was one the best, customer support reps in one of my previous technical support roles, and I was promoted twice due to this ability.
I finally ended up as a "Disaster Recovery Manager", in a huge data-center, a co-location site, in Garden City, Long Island. I took executive customer-distress calls when their ENTIRE company was down/non-operational. Believe me, the job was NO JOKE. So because of my direct and highly accurate (motivated) manner, I was placed in that "High Stress" position.
For ME... the job was a breeze. I LOVED the work. I was a "natural". The technology of our infrastructure and my inside knowledge of our absolutely HUGE support staff allowed me to manage systemic triage, and implement first-level recovery forces. Once a disaster-recovery was underway, my job was just to monitor and document, and keep all parties in synch, but mostly to keep the customer happy. I was my company's public "spin doctor". So I HAD to keep customers in the loop, and keep them appraised of progress in mature, and competent fashion. No room for messing up. They wanted SOLUTIONS.
I was good in this company, and was becoming established professionally, but then IBM bought us out, and broke up the company- End of Story. So my "career" took a different path after that.
I always dealt with customers sincerely, and HONESTLY, and I never bailed on a single customer. I'm the help-desk guy that would -give my direct number- to customers and tell them to seek me out if they had a continuing problem. I did not hide from customers, and if a customer was simply "out of their minds" with frustration, I was the type who'd bravely walk INTO the jaws of the lion, and take charge, and calm the customer, and assure them, and I always did my level best, to make ... "All Things Well". In fact, I was promoted (twice) for this behavior. My customers nominated me for an award. ...Not my parent company.... MY CUSTOMERS. Because my customers loved me. So believe me. I MISS that position now. But the company is "no more".
My general communication style is very straightforward and clean, and usually is simply logical, without a lot of nonsense. Depending on the location and mood of the moment, I may be chatty, or extremely brief. And I am ALWAYS... sincere...
What follows below here, is a wonderfully goofy role, played by Will Farrell, in another MATRIX Parody, shown during the MTV awards one year. Enjoy.
A ridiculously polysyllabic loquacious and obfuscated speech
Goofy is GOOD for a Laugh
The left-hook of "Word Play"
I am always sincere...
Well, ALMOST always...
My ("normal") professional and straight-forward presentation tends to leave people WIDE OPEN, to the left-hook of a play on words. And before they know it, they suddenly realize I just joked. And I find that, often, the most simple and innocent play on words, becomes quite funny under very straight and common circumstances. For instance, when a customer and I are having a very straight-forward conversation regarding a job, and we are in mid-exchange, then the customer may ask me a simple simple question, and I ALSO answer very simply, (with a clean joke) as follows. Their reaction is usually like a sudden "SLAP". They stop, LOOK at me, and smile and laugh (usually)
CUSTOMER: "How long will it take for this carpet to dry?"
ME: " Two or three months. " I say this with an entirely straight face.-(and I wait for a reaction... just watching them quietly.)
Usually, they register the words I just said, and it then takes a moment... So, I watch them suddenly FREEZE, then RE-register the words. They LOOK at me, and giggle (usually). And then they say, "NOoooooooo !".
At which point I just smile and say, "Two or Three HOURS, ma'am.".
I often enjoy a more dry humor, which is where, often "word-play" comes in. While working in the service industry, It does not matter WHAT, I am doing. I may be performing a computer repair such as reloading the operating system on an older PC, or maybe replacing a cracked laptop screen... when they come to pick up their machine, and they will ask me, "Okay, ...how much?"
"Three Thousand Dollars, please..." and then I WATCH...
Just like that bird below here.
Heavens BEST healing power is Love... and Humor
Sometimes a BAD Joke... is GOOD Weird Al Yanchovic
When "Bad", is good
Very OFTEN I felt like THIS on the inside
When chosen for the Crisis-Manager, disaster recovery role ...
My supervisors had approached me, one day. And they said to me. You NEVER get upset, DO YOU?
Nahhhhhh. Nope, never.
Cool as a watermelon. ...In Hades.
But, what get's me through? Is the way I LOOK at things. And I look at it kinda like..... THIS.