Tom Young

When they first arrived in the Maritimes, they were referred to as “call centres,” like everything else in life, they’ve undergone a name change, the are now know as “customer contact centres.”  Some are good places to work, others are decent places to work and others I have to say are just bloody-awful places to work.

We shouldn’t be surprised when we hear Customer Contact Centre A is laying off 400 jobs, or that Customer Contact Centre B is closing or that Customer Contact Centre C is transferring some of it’s jobs elsewhere.  This is just the beginning of the end.

A number of years ago a friend of mine who worked in the industry which develops and supplies the telephone hardware to these centres, said most of the operators are “carpetbaggers.”  They are coming to our area from other parts of Canada and the United States because they can operate cheaper here than they can elsewhere.  Cheaper here means more money in the pockets of the call centre owners.

With advances in phone system hardware and the use of VOIP, (Voice Over Internet Protocol) and by the way I just threw in that VOIP explanation so that you might actually think I know what I’m talking about — telephone systems around the world now sound like they’re coming from right next door.  So, if ten or fifteen years ago you moved your call centre into our area because it was cheaper, what’s to stop owners from moving somewhere else because they can do it cheaper?

Very rarely does a customer contact centre employee ever divulge to the caller on the line where he or she happens to be sitting while they are answering the caller’s questions.

Add it all together and customer contact centres can be operated at in some cases huge savings off shore.  So it makes sense if you have to pay between ten and fifteen dollars an hour and in some cases even more to employees in our region, why not pay ten of fifteen rupees an hour for someone to do the same job in New Delhi?  Most callers don’t care where the answer to their question is coming from, they just want the answer, the reservation or the product.

So the next time you hear that Call Centre D is laying off 500 people in your community don’t be surprised when you somehow hear the announcement that Call Centre D is hiring 200 employees at it’s new state-of-the-art centre in some far off land.

There are those in the industry that will dispute what’s contained in this blog, but as is generally the case, time will tell, I’m right again…

I’m Tom Young.

The idea that we’re going to stop fighting against the Taliban on a certain date in 2011 has to be the absolute dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.

Okay, so here’s the little Taliban commander sitting in his tent with a bunch of the boys just counting down the days…

“…It’s only three more days, It’s only two more days, It’s only one more day… Okay guys, we’ve haven’t done any fighting for the last thirty days –  but tomorrow it’s out of the tents and on the offensive!”

Ask any person of any rank who’s ever served in the Canadian Military if they’ve heard of anything like putting an “expiry date” on a war, and make no mistake — it is a war.

So we’re going to move out of Kandahar?  Where are we going to go and what are we going to do?  We keep hearing about these “brand new used tanks” we’re getting from the Germans.  Some of these tanks won’t be ready for at least a year, so maybe what we can do is advertise used German-Canadian tanks for sale!

What kind of a deal might we get?

This decision has absolutely nothing to do with what’s going on in Afghanistan, it’s a political decision made by a desperate Prime Minister who appears ready to sell his soul to keep his throne.  A month ago, the war in Afghanistan and our involvement in it was the hottest political issue of the day, with some even suggesting we may have a “one issue election,” — but no more!

“Steve The Deal-Maker” has trumped “Stéphane The Waffler” one more time to save his political ass. 

Next week, the issue will be given a pre-planned debate on the floor of the House of Commons, the New Democrats and the separatist Bloc Party will vote to bring the troops home, while the Conservative Liberals and the Liberal Conservatives will vote to leave them there…

It seems to me I saw a movie about this one time starring Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels.  I think it was called — “Dumb and Dumber?” 

This decision is Canadian politics at it’s worst.

I’m Tom Young.

Last week, on a couple of occasions, we’ve had record amounts of rainfall not only in Saint John but in many other communities in both New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

The rain takes me back to what seems like eons ago when I worked at another radio station doing much the same as I’m doing now.  More than thirty years ago, after lots of flooding in East Saint John, I got a phone call from a frustrated housewife living in what’s known as the Glen Falls area complaining about how every time it rained, her house and other houses on adjacent streets would flood.

This frustrated housewife finely decided that she could no longer fight the flooding from the outside –  so she would fight it on the inside.  She let her name stand for election to the Saint John Common Council based on one issue only — “Clean up the flooding in Glen Falls.”

She wasn’t able to accomplish her mission as a member of Common Council, so she let her name stand for for Mayor.  She served more than ten years as the Chief Magistrate for Saint John and despite lots of talk there was little action.  During her time at city hall, every time it rained to any degree, the Glen Falls area bore the brunt of the flooding in East Saint John.

Unable to accomplish her avowed mission statement — “I’m going to clean up the flooding in Glen Falls,” she decided she had to go to Ottawa to do the job.  The citizens of the city duly elected her as their member of parliament on three different occasions as she promised — “I’m going to clean up the flooding in Glen Falls.”

During her tenure in the nation’s capital, every time it rained and there was flooding in East Saint John, Glen Falls bore the brunt.  It’s been a number of years since she decided to put politics behind her and every time it rains in East Saint John and it floods, Glen Falls bares the brunt.

Looking back on her original promise to — “Clean up the flooding in Glen Falls,”  I have to wonder if Elsie Wayne thinks her time spent as a Councillor, Mayor and M-P was time well spent on behalf of the citizens of Saint John, particularly, those living in Glenn Falls.

I must note, when the heavy rains came last week and East Saint John was flooded, Glen Falls bore the brunt.

Funny, how things haven’t changed all that much…

I’m Tom Young.

A little more than two years ago, millions of Canadians including yours truly, went to the polls to elect a new Federal Government.  It was our duty as interested Canadians to take part in a system which allows us to elect the men and women who would take care of country business for at least four years.

We as Canadians are programmed to listen to all the hot air, promises and threats which come from the mouths of all those who want us to vote for them every four years.

We send them to Ottawa with the honour of being our members of Parliament and we don’t mind seeing them come back into their ridings asking for our support every four years.

We fully expect all of our residential neighbourhoods will be polluted with signs of various size, shape and colour every four years. 

We expect to turn on the television and see the smiling faces and hear the promises of what they can do for us every four years.

As the host of a radio talk show, I feel compelled to provide for federal political parties, “air time” on The Afternoon News so that various candidates can slam their opponents and extol their own virtues every four years.

Those of us who read the newspaper, (and that’s happening in ever decreasing numbers) expect to pick up one and read a biography of all the candidates running in our local riding every four years.

Canadians have come to expect innumeration notices in their mail boxes every four years.

It is our duty to ensure our names are on the voting list every four years.

To shorten the time period between elections to anything under four years would be a giant pain in the ass!  So, consider the following as a plea if you must to messieurs Harper, Dion, Layton, Duceppe and all other party leaders…

PLEASE GET ALONG!!!  …Because the last thing we as Canadians want to do is go to the polls any sooner than every four years.

I’m Tom Young.

I have had many requests for a copy of the “London Times Obituary The Late Mr. Common Sense.”  Rather than respond with a number of individual emails, here it is…

London Times Obituary of The Late Mister Common Sense

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who
has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was,
since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the
worm; Life isn’t always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend
more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children,
are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens
suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher
fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the
job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly
children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental
consent to administer sun lotion or an Elastoplast to a student; but
could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to
have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became
contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better
treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you
couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the
burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in
her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust;
his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son,
Reason. He is survived by four stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want
It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I’m A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and
do nothing.’

***
In conjunction with the medical problems under review by the Miramichi Regional Health Authority, The New Brunswick department of health is providing a toll free number for those who may have concerns. 

The number is 1-866-577-5901

Health Minister Mike Murphy assured all residents on The Afternoon News that he is working to identify additional pathologists or pathology laboratories in Canada and the U-S that can assist with the review of all cases which number close to 15,000.

And finally, this comes a result of a show done last week where a woman was sent to a federal women’s prison and told by the judge that she can take her 10 month old child with her.  She was sentenced to four years to taking a shot gun to her common law husband.  The following information is from an email which arrived from a listener in Newfoundland and Labrador shortly after our show last Friday…

“I was listening yesterday and I was absolutely appalled to hear about Lisa Whitford being allowed to bring her child to prison with her.  This prompted me to do more research on her which in turn prompted me to start a petition against this.  I cannot believe how our justice system has failed baby Jordynn.  People get their children taken away from them for much less than what this woman has done.  She already has two children which did not cause her to turn her life around.”

***

She was writing to let me know that she has started a group on Facebook against this, hoping to get the word out in a petition to try and stop the injustice to this child.

The following are links to the group and the petition:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7988473285
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/babysuffering/

Keep listening, we’re on five days a week from 12 PM to 3 PM Atlantic!

Tom

I’m surprised it’s taken this long for an attractive young real estate agent to be killed in the line of duty while showing a house.

Twenty-four year old Linsay Buziak who lived in Saanich, British Columbia was found dead in a million dollar home which she was showing to someone she had never met before.

Police who are investigating are saying very little about the details surrounding the killing but the time has come for Real Estate companies large and small to institute some new safety precautions. 

People far wiser than I who know a great deal more about that industry should come up with a long list of do’s and do not’s covering how sales people should operate safely.

The first “do” would be to make sure your first meeting with a prospective client is in your office where you can be seen by other agents.

The first “don’t” would be under no set of circumstances meet an unknown prospective home buyer on site alone.  What about those open houses where realtors advertise they will be at such-and-such address at such-and-such a time? 
It could turn out to be a recipe for disaster.

Some years ago, after a similar incident occurred in the U-S — I had a conversation with a local real estate broker that it was only a matter of time until this type of incident occurred in Canada.  With this one — I’d much sooner had been wrong than right.

I can’t think of too many jobs that are any more competitive than being a real estate agent and selling a property can be a real high.  There’s an old saying that applies to just about everything — “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” and what might a little prevention have done to save this young lady’s life? 

It’s a preventable tragedy and in this crazy world lets hope it never happens again.

I’m Tom Young.

If this wasn’t such a serious issue, it would be a big joke.