I haven’t written a new poem for a while, but tonight I was inspired to write this one about trying to get a help desk person to help me. I obviously use a computer regularly and am reasonably good at understanding most things, but tonight I wasn’t able to work things out for myself and so I rang the help desk.
I am sure the young lady was trying hard to be helpful, but as with a lot of help desk people I have encountered over the years, she gave too much information, too quickly and I just couldn’t process and act on the information at the same time! I barely had capacity to do one or the other, let alone both! So, it took some time to get her to understand what I needed to get what I needed out of our interaction. I did praise her for her patience, because sometimes she had to go over things more than once, but she did still need some gentle reminders to slow down.
So, I was inspired to write this poem, called “Please Help Desk Person”
Please help desk person... Please help desk person, don’t think me a dunce What’s easy for you, I may only do once Please don’t reel off too quickly when giving advice I can’t understand and I try to be nice Please help desk person, you sure know your stuff But give too much info and my brain turns to fluff Please understand, I’m not getting mad I’m asking you nicely, to help me a tad Please if you could, would you maybe talk slow I need to work through from go and to woh Please understand I have a 60+ brain You may have to say it all once again Please help me now to get through this mess I’m struggling now, I have to confess Please be patient and kind and help with my quest To get this all done, so I can then rest Please help desk person I hope that you can Stay on the line and help with my plan Please I do know you can do stuff with ease Sometimes I think that my mind starts to seize Please do respect, we still have a good brain It just takes us longer, to think through again Please help desk person, please understand I really just need, a good helping hand Please help desk person, perhaps if you can Think how you’d help if I was your Nan Please think of how Nan would best learn If she’d rung you up and it was her turn Please think if Nan were the one on the phone struggling to do stuff, if she is alone Please try to think, it might be you one day What might you need for someone to say Please be so patient and treat with respect Especially with elders your Nan would expect Please help desk person, you’ve done very good You’ve helped with my query and you understood Please remember, for folk like your Nan We may not recall all the things that you can Please bear with me, if I sound a bit gruff It can be quite daunting this technical stuff Please help desk person, if I ask more than twice Try to have patience and try to be nice Please can you learn from our talk today And slow down the info and what you say Please do remember, not too much at once And we won’t be feeling like we are a dunce Please help desk person, if oldies call through Don’t forget all the things I’ve told you Please if you can, leave them with a smile If you have then gone that extra mile Please help desk person, pat yourself on the back For helping us oldies, to get on the right track
Here is a link to the poem on Spotify. Check out my podcasts – including some more of my poems. I hope you enjoy them.
My journey with Parkinsons 