by Carly Mayer, M.S.

I hate calling large companies. I hate their long lists of options, the annoying recordings, and when you eventually get to a person, the seemingly endless scripts they are required to read before (hopefully) helping you. I find that certain companies are worse than others and when I come across a company that is quick and helpful, I am eternally grateful, no matter the size of the request. However, when I run into a roadblock with a company, I have a tendency to make myself extremely angry, which comes out in cutting words and eventually, tears. Yesterday, the woman at my health insurance company was lucky enough to be the brunt of this frustration. In the moment, I could not believe the seemingly ridiculous policy that she was telling me and her unprofessional “OMG” did not help the situation either.

I hung up the phone, angry, frustrated, and disappointed and immediately called my dad to converse with him regarding the change in my plan. His initial response: “Are you seriously crying right now?” To him, this was minute and almost comical and I immediately started laughing. I knew in the moment I was making myself react this way and while the news was disappointing, it was not the fault of the representative. I knew that getting upset was not going to make me deal with the situation any better and most likely, was not going to change my policy. So, looking back, I need a new approach. First step: go in with the expectation that even though I want a certain result out of the call, that does not mean it has to happen. Second step: take a deep breath and remember that I am in control of how I feel, regardless of what the company recording or the representative says. Third step: make that follow-up call. I think I’ll do that right now.

Carly Mayer