SHEPHERDS ON THE PHONE

  

I’ve always enjoyed the fact that the good news of Christmas was first announced to simple, working-class shepherds, instead of tycoons or celebrities or CEOs. It reminds me, at this time of year, that simplicity and ordinariness are more beautiful than splendor and grandiosity. My wife and I sometimes deal with a wonderful kind of simplicity and ordinariness when we talk on the phone with customer service representatives. It’s not always the case, but occasionally the representatives show us the kind of patience and graciousness you might expect from best friends. They speak with gentleness and kindness, carefully finding answers to our often complicated questions. They’re probably fairly low on the salary scale of their companies, but for us, these courteous phone workers sometimes work little miracles. I guess, in a way, they’re like the simple, ordinary shepherds of the Christmas story, just quietly doing their unnoticed but essential work, and we always try to give them our own kind of “good news” at the end of the conversation. We ask to speak to their superiors in order to say how grateful we are for their attentive service. We tell their superiors that, in a straightforward, unassuming, skillful, and considerate manner, these employees of theirs both answered our questions and warmed our hearts.