customer service from the rep's perspective

I'm not saying that everyone who calls customer service/tech support is stupid (lord knows I've had to call a few times), but sometimes it really does feel like this when you're on the other side:

YouTube - Medieval helpdesk

And I say this as a 3-year veteran of dot-com customer service. Not to mention almost 6 years of public libraries, which are actually worse.

parenting today

Wow. two posts in one day!

Anyway, just saw this column by Mark Morford about modern parenting and how different it is and complex and OMG the internet and cell phones and pedophiles and isn't everyone in our parents generation glad they don't have to deal with this with their kids?

But, he concluded:

At the root of it, are new parents and their kids not faced with the exact same set of problems they've always faced? That is: hormones, learning, identity, love, balance, where they fit into this mad fireball of a world?

A lovely summary. I wanted to remember it, thus, the post.