TheWorx

Of course, I'm guilty as much as the next guy--well, maybe not as much, I like to think. I know I succumb to the usual inadequacies of the mind. I know I am incapable of ascertaining the true prevalence of a group's supposed characteristic; and, statistical science offers no hope--perhaps rightfully so. But there is no reason why technology cannot assuage the prejudices of humans. In my last post I digressed and railed against the African-American Customer Service Representative at Geico. Regardless of motivations, technology can prevent misplaced ire (such disdain should be placed squarely on the policies of the corporation). The way to do this is to disguise the voice of the representative and that of the customer--the respective names should also be aliases (there is actually no reason why our name should be available to an employee--just the account number). That's right, I propose that all live customer representatives should have Siri's voice and we can have--I ...

Don't sweat the small stuff, it is said. Well, what they never tell you is that the small stuff adds up. So it was that I recently had to take it up the wazoo by a Geico representative who was hell bent on upping her commission. Let's back up a little (no pun intended). When I first signed up with Geico, they told me that they would have to add my wife as the driver of the pick-up truck, a Ford F350 with oversized tires. The reason I so clearly remember this is that the thought that my wife would have the desire or even the ability to drive a big truck like that was, frankly, ludicrous. However, I felt I had no choice but to comply with their demands for when it comes to insurance companies and the like, it's always a case of "who's your daddy?" (Of course, they knew that my wife would probably not be driving the stick BMW). Now, fast forward about 5 years at least. I get on the phone to add a third car--small, automatic--which my wife could use in an em...