Double Down with Chiggy

What follows is Chiggy's and the Deuce's take on this American life. We spent the better part of a Thursday answering eachother's questions because, you know, work be damned.



To: Double Deuce

From: Chiggy



Re: Here we go!



Double Deuce,



A lot of things have changed in our society and much for the better. Look at this email I am sending, back in the day I would have had to send it via US Mail, (and everyone knows it takes at least 2 weeks for those letter carriers to get anything right) Right now it is instantaneous and I can get immediate feedback about my thoughts.



Right now I am pretty hot about one technological advance, Automated Phone systems! Who honestly thinks these are helpful? "Please dial or say your account number now" Besides the fact that if I was organized enough to have my account number handy while I am most likely driving I wouldn't call these people, the fact that I have to RESTATE the same account number when I talk to an actual representative is ridiculous. The fact that most of them will not allow you to go directly to customer service is also pretty frustrating, and while there is tons of unintentional comedy in watching everyone say customer service for 5 straight minutes being on an Automated Phone system sucks when you actually have to deal with one.



The wisdom of Double Deuce has been called upon, how can the guys of LGTS start a movement to end the practice of using these systems? I have a dreamsicle that one day my four small children can live in a world in which they can call a corporation and talk to a human being.



Another technological joke is texting. My stance on texting has changed a ton in the past few years, and while I don't think it's only for girls anymore I think its ridiculous how people consciously wait prior to responding to texts. What your "friend" will think you are a loser if you respond immediately when you get the texts? You don't carry your phone with you everywhere you go? I have never experienced anyone waiting 2 hours to text me back when I owe them money. How is it possible that everyone you see out has their phones on them yet no one ever really picks up or responds to texts in a prompt manner? Just a few thoughts that I thought needed to be shared with you my gimpy friend.



Lots of Luck, Chiggy


To: Chiggy

From: Double Deuce


Re: Cheesey Doodles



Let's get Chiggy with it,


I guess it would be logical of me to answer these questions in asequential manner, but I'm feeling a little frisky this afternoon soyou're going to get my thoughts in a ramshackle mess of knowledge.I'm laying truthbombs on your ass.


You say you want to talk to a person; I say fine. We should be giventhe opportunity to speak to an operator because five minutes into ourautomated experience, we get shipped to one anyway. I mean, doesn'tit seem like there is no way that, in the long run, the automatedphone system saves any money. First, you call and then you getshipped to a real person who is supposed to be able to help exceptthat your problem is not covered by this niche person so they pass youon. And now, you have to re-tell your whole story to this new personwasting their time, your time and the company's time. How does this process save money? Doesn't it make more sense to have an operator automatically place you so as to avoid all that time lost on both sides? The answer; no it doesn't. The last time I checked, operators, by and large, could care less about their jobs. If they do a great job, nobody cares….so why work hard, you know? My bet is that they probably make just as many, if not more, mistakes than the damn automated machine. This is why I don't buy anything that might break, ever.



Ahhh, the texting thing. I just don't know how to feel about texting. I still tend to think, "why not just call?" But I don't live by myown personal motto. I've begun to text more. I message friends for noreason. So I guess I'm the worst type of person in the world; I'mlike the anti-Ghandi. I'm not the change I want to see in the world.


Chigozie, the way I see it, you're reacting against a world where we lose interpersonal communication. Whether or not you care about theperson on the other end of the phone, you want to hear from them. You want to hear another human voice, which totally makes sense. As work becomes more official and I suffer more and more transactional sortsof conversations, I want my friends to call and actually want to talk to me. I need more than the standard text message giggle. I'm a real person, you know. Still, I send text messages because it's easy and because I'm lazy.



This probably says something greater about our generation. Something like; we have these wants and desires, butwe're really not prepared to have the focused vision it takes to get accomplish the goal even if it's just talking to friends instead oftexting them. I don't really know, and I guess, I've sort of just resigned myself to the fact that our generation sucks.


Anyways, are there any ads you just can't stand? When they are good, I love advertisements. The fact that a person can tell a convincing story in thirty seconds that can also illicit an emotion is absolutelymind-boggling to me, and I do this for a living. My problem; therehasn't been an ad like that for me since Geico's, "So Easy a CavemanCan Do It," and even that ad was killed by the TV show they did. Imean, wasn't Encino Man already a major motion picture like 15 yearsago. I swear that in Hollywood, people with a foot in the door arethen able to fail upward. And what does this tell me? I live in the wrong city.


Okay, I've been thinking about this a bit. Remember in high school when we'd tell people that you wrestled and I played basketball and they'd look at us incredulously because you're black and I'm not? Well, I think we finally have a chance to induce that stereotyping again. I'm on the record as voting for Obama. I think you shouldtell people that you're voting for McCain. Let's blow some minds, man. It's high time that we really aren't judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of our political views. So let's join in and rein truthbombs on these stereotyping liberals.