You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat call center agents.

I once had a woman tell me, "Look. I know you're probably a college student. I know you don't love doing this job. But work hard and study hard, okay? And stay safe. You can do this." And with that, she told me to have a good day and I never spoke to her again. That week, I thought about her often; I still do. I wish I knew her name, I wish I could thank her for being kind to a very tired, hungry college student who really needed it that day. Except I don't have her name or any other identifying feature other than her kind words. She didn't know that I was exhausted, muscles constantly sore from hours and hours of ballet. She had no idea that my father had been worried I wasn't getting enough to eat. She had no idea that my epilepsy was doing weird things and the doctor was changing my medication doses and switching prescriptions and it was stressing me out. She had no idea I was a mess.

I went home that night and prayed for her. I really wanted God to bless her because she was so kind to me. I wanted God to take away her pain and to help her on her way in life. I began to feel this way about the few people who were kind to me on calls. After coming home from work, every night, I started praying for the people who were kind to me. I didn't remember their names, but I remembered how they made me feel. I'd come home and I'd ask God to help these people because they had helped me.

It really was not easy for me to do this job. When walking down the stairs into the basement (yes my job is in the basement of a building...) I often feel like I'm descending into a pit of misery and endless wo. And I still cannot get through a shift without lots of prayer and copious amounts of caffeine. Work is easier for me when I involve God. During some rough shifts, praying is all I can do to keep from bursting into tears because some people are so mean to me on our phones. I've been successful in never letting those tears slide down my cheeks, even though at times, they seem very determined. In those moments, I keep my eyes on the clock and my heart close to God.

I tried to think about why someone would say something so nasty. I slowly began to realize that it was because these people were hurting. They were hurting real bad. This is where I realized a flaw in my thinking. I had been praying for the wrong people all along. The people who were nice to me on the phone didn't need my prayers as much as the others. These people are frustrated, angry, tired, sick, hurt, betrayed, stressed and so many different things. And I am a safe target for them to take their feelings out on. Not that I think they should, but subconsciously, their brain probably tells them that it's okay to let out a little bit of that anger on me because they'll never see or talk to me again.

My heart has begun to ache for these people. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat call center agents. Sometimes I come home from work and fall on my bed and cry for them because I hope that whatever is ailing them gets better. I pray with tears in my eyes in hopes that God will look upon them with love in his eyes and mercy in His heart. I want Him to help these people along their way in life because they need to feel like there is someone out there who cares about them.

The woman who was kind to me on the phone that day really saved me in a way. She showed me that people can be good on a day when I really wasn't sure if they were. If by some miracle she stumbles across this article, I want to say thank you for being kind to a call center agent on a day that I really needed it. Thanks, kind lady.