Let me start off my saying this: I despise the word stupid. Despise may not even be strong enough to describe the loathing I have for the word stupid.
I feel calling a person stupid remains one of the worst insults one can use. It’s a word that I rarely use. That being said, I reserve the use of “stupid” for extreme acts that amaze me with their unique sense of illogical function.
Take for example American Express.
A few days ago I posted about
American Express outsourcing call centers from the United States. As a result of one of my calls with American Express I was asked to complete an online survey. I did, and I let them know my honest opinions.
The survey, most likely combined with our stopping use of the card, prompted a call from American Express to the bakery. When you call the bakery, you are advised that “this call may be monitored or recorded.”
I answer the call (from a blocked caller id) and was greeted by “this is so and so with American Express calling from a recorded line, is Fred Posner there?”
I said, “Yes, this is a recorded line.” The caller repeated (while the beep tone played in the background) that she was calling from a recorded line regarding my survey.
I again said, “Yes, this call is recorded.”
Here’s where American Express went full stupid:
AMEX: “Mr. Posner, if you are recording this call, I will be unable to speak with you.”
FRED: “I thought you were recording this call, no?”
AMEX: “Yes, we are recording this call, but if you are recording this call, I will have to disconnect.”
FRED: “This makes no sense. Why can you record the call and I can’t?”
beeping continues
AMEX: “I will be unable to speak with you if you record this call.”
FRED: “This is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. If you record the call I will as well. If you don’t want to record the call, I will stop only when you do.”
AMEX: Click.
As I said, I reserve the word stupid for rare occasions of amazing illogical non-sense. This was a perfect example of what I consider stupid.