All Write, Already!

There is a six word phrase that is like fingernails on a blackboard to any customer service representative.

"It's the principle of the thing."

When people say that, it's sometimes true. Someone who's calling up to get a reimbursement or a credit or some other financially quantifiable solution is usually very clear about the goal, but some are inclined to veil their intentions and appear to be surprised when the solution is monetary. That's fine. Customer service folks can recognize that and play the appeasement game. It's not challenging.

But people for whom the issue is principle are zealots. They are certain of a truth, so thoroughly that your time and theirs is valueless - except as an offering on the altar of the principle that they are convinced is the correct principle, whether it is or not. And woe to you if you speak as if it were otherwise!

Principled callers make me understand the harried husbands who shuffle through life mumbling, "yes, dear."