Terkel: "Working" Communications Section

1) Sharon Atkins (29)
Sharon Atkins is a receptionist.  I chose to read what she had to say about her job, and I'm glad I did.  I've always been curious of the people behind the phone.  Did they really enjoy their job?  Did they really enjoy answering phones all day long?  Did they have some callers that made the job hard to do?

Not many people seem to care in this kind of career.  Like Atkins mentions, "Then they asked me what I did.  When I told them, they turned around to find other people with name tags.  I wasn't worth bothering with" (29).  It makes to read that.  But interestingly enough, I wonder if it's hard just to call as it is for recpetionsists to answer those calls.

We are a people of communication.  Simply, it's crucial.  Without it, we lose relationships.  Without communicating efficiently and deeply, we lose the ability to speak with people in the first place.  Atkins' experience is a good example of how face to face communication is such a major form of communication.  then telephones came about.  And now we can communicate with people without ever really seeing their face.

2) Heather Lamb (36)
"I'm a communications person but I can't communicate" (36).  This is what Heather Lamb has to think about in her job as a telephone operator.  Also having a similar job experience as Atkins, the only difference is that Lamb doesn't seem to have negative thoughts as much as Atkins.  On the other hand, Lamb has opportunities--not always invited--to chat with her callers.

As I read these two perspectives, Lamb's quote summarized what I had been thinking, "You can't help but want to talk to them if they're in trouble or if they're just feeling bad or something" (36).  It must be hard to know one can't have a personal conversation because it's not part of their job.  Especially, since Lamb is only eighteen, she may have a higher sensitivity to people than Atkins who may just have hated talking to people in general.

Lastly, Both Atkins and Lamb mention that they feel like an instrument.  Unlike Atkins, Lamb doesn't seem to dwell on that as much.  How?  Lamb is willing to make "jokes" during her conversations.  I noticed that the younger one with a job is, the less agitated and temperamental they are.  Atkins is also young, but she's already completed her education and is also married.  For Lamb, I'm sure she know that she doesn't have to do this job for the rest of her life, therefore, she makes the most of what she can.