Dear Abby: I've recently been informed of one of the drastic measures our government has taken to cut the budget. I'm speaking about the closure of one of the largest food banks in Pierce County.
I am not a resident of Pierce County, but the closure has affected me in its own way. It has given me the incentive to fight about what I see to be unfair. I can no longer sit idle and think about the injustice of things such as this. I want to do something to help. However, I am an 18-year-old, middle-class Democrat who doesn't have the power to take on the government single-handedly.My question: What can I do about all this? Please help!
- Enraged in Bremerton, Wash.
Dear Enraged: You are to be congratulated for your motivation to right what you feel is a wrong. The most effective way to change government policies is to vote. If you are not registered to vote, do so immediately.
Write to your elected representatives and tell them what you want them to do. Your librarian can assist you in obtaining the addresses. Make copies of the names and addresses, and give them to friends and acquaintances so they can do the same.
Find out when your congressional representative will be in his or her local office, then make an appointment to discuss your concerns. They welcome input from constituents. The best of luck to you.
Dear Abby: I'm surprised I haven't seen complaints in your column about present-day business telephone-answering systems.
Have you tried calling your bank, your newspaper, the Social Security office, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the airlines, the telephone company or any sizable business?
The telephones are never answered by a "real" person anymore. Instead, you get a computer voice giving you a "menu" of instructions. You are told if you want "this" service to push "that" number; if you want "this" person you must push another number.
I am elderly and am often unable to understand all of the computer instructions. If I finally manage to reach the line I'm after, another recording tells me to leave a message so someone can call me back. Who knows when a call will be returned? Am I supposed to wait by the phone for that call? What if it's an emergency? What if I have an appointment or I want to leave my home?
My friends and acquaintances all have the same complaints about the new-fangled telephone systems. If this is progress, please give me and the public the good old days!
I hope corporate America reads this letter and does people a favor by going back to "real people" answering telephones.
- Frustrated Fran
Dear Fran: You are far from the first reader to write me with this complaint. I will be pleasantly surprised if corporate America acts on your "wake-up call" - but where there's life there's hope. I know of no one who actually enjoys transacting business with a computer. However, companies that use voice mail usually do so because it is cost-effective. Business owners are willing to sacrifice personalized service for what they perceive as increased efficiency.
It would be interesting if there were some way to measure how much business has been lost because prospective customers became frustrated, hung up and never called back.
Good advice for everyone - teens to senior citizens - is in "The Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It." To order, send a business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby, Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included.)
1995 Universal Press Syndicate