Service With A Smile...And Some Homework?!?!

If you ever visited any place at all where someone has had to provide you with a service, you may have had the issue where the customer service agent isn't particularly focused on the service. Perhaps your grocery store clerk was more interested in a conversation with the checker next to her. Possibly you went to check in for a doctor's appointment, and the front office manager was a little preoccupied with the latest issue of People. I recently experienced similar great service. When I arrived at the customer service counter to conduct a few financial transactions, the representative was obviously busy doing some homework on the computer. Now, I don't have a problem with that at all. If you have some downtime at work, and need to accomplish some extra homework or studying--great, more power to you, use your time as well as you can. But, it's pretty bizarre when you don't actually quit the homework to do your job. In this instance, the rep began to help me with a transaction, and then stopped in the middle of it to add a few lines to her homework project. As our exchange continued, she paused several times in the process to continue the homework. I thought it was quite strange, and I wondered why she really thought it was appropriate. Maybe my customer service laws are too inflexible, and I just need to lower my standards.