Across the Counter Divide

They don’t care about you and me They don’t feel the need to offer courtesy They upset everybody Our interaction with bureaucracy of any kind Is often a stumbling block In having our needs fulfilled Nothing riles us as bad service We expect to be pleased Our every whim acknowledged and catered for We must have it just the way we like it No other way will do Good service exists But it is best for us to remember The instances that have caused us much headache We love to heap distaste in spades Lack of efficiency sounds the death knell Of being customer friendly The drone that serves seems not to care He has great power Which he can often yield quite ferociously Knocking us aback with its chill And its stupidity Procedures are forced on the client Who contorts to meet the needs Of the god inherent in the system That demands conformity; No individuals here please The fake smile Matched by the impatience Of the box ticking mentality Gnaws at the resolve of those who are wronged When the computer says no An opaque system Of rules and complex algorithms Of no customer value Backs up the grab but do not give Value systems of the drone across the counter And his masters that pull his strings He who thinks he is Underpaid and Undervalued Treats us with contempt And barely concealed disdain; All we did was refuse to play His silly game His outrage at our apparent lack of But only to him Fair play Riles us Raising the bile of frustration That a genuine smile would do much To dissipate Service as received varies We bring our own ideas of the rules That never matches the rules as they stand We often create our own frustration Through our ignorance The Pre-conceived ideas of both parties Often leads to vexatious interactions Everyone blames the other party But everyone admits things Are going quite badly