Work issues

[kippurbird]

Well... that was anxiety provoking.

I'm working the front desk and this woman calls. At first she's reasonably confused because I answer, "AJU Library, how may I help you?" and didn't know that the University of Judaism became American Jewish University. Nothing too earth shaking. Lots of people don't know that.

Then she wants to know if I can help her. Again reasonable.

She tells me she just found out that she's the child of a Holocaust survivor.

I'm still good.

I ask her how can I help her.

She starts saying how she's suffering from this syndrome that survivor's children get and she needs help and I start panicking, because it sounds like she wants me to give her therapy and she's not telling me she wants to look up certain books and she's sounding like she's about to cry and very desperate and SOOO I pass her off to the Rabbi, who THANK GOD was standing right there.

The good Rabbi talks to her for about ten minutes and then tells me that the woman didn't sound suicidal, but definitely needed help and she was going to call Jewish Family Services for her.

Still... It's got me all jittery.

One of the reasons why I hate working up front.

Comments

[smurasaki.livejournal.com]

Eeek. I'm glad the Rabbi was right there.

[moonshadowed.livejournal.com]

Eeep! I think that would make anyone nervous! Good thing the Rabbi was right there.

[falconwhitaker.livejournal.com]

Yikes, that sounds terrifying O_O

... incidentally, what is this syndrome that survivor's children get? I'm a nosy Psychology student.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I don't know. She didn't say. She just started rambling and about to cry.

[falconwhitaker.livejournal.com]

I see. Not fun =( *hugs*

[elegantelbow.livejournal.com]

A million years ago, I used to work for the American Foundation for Urologic Disease (AFUD) -- all we ever did was hold fundraisers and distribute and sell informational pamphlets.

Sadly, this did not stop men from calling our receptionist and describing their symptoms to her. You could hear her all over the office -- "Sir, sir, I am not a doctor!"

[yetanotherbob.livejournal.com]

All I can image is DeForest Kelley saying into the phone, "Dammit, Jim, I'm a receptionist, not a doctor!"

[authoressarktos.livejournal.com]

...Whoa. O_O

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

How can she have the syndrome if she JUST found out? I can see being upset by it, but having a syndrome? I suppose she could have had it her whole life and only now has a name for it, but it sounds like projection to me.

But what do I know? The closest I come to that sort of thing is that my grandfather was held in an East German jail for 9 hours sometime in the 50's or 60's because they stopped the tour bus and decided he was a Dutch spy.

He wasn't.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I'm not really sure. She was all panicky and distressed. I think she was just looking out for any sort of help.