Phone Calls with Constituents

Talking to constituents on the phone can be extremely challenging. I shouldn’t act so negative about constituent calls because it is such a rewarding opportunity to grow and learn about the congressional district that I am serving right now. The phone calls I get are sometimes extremely negative. I hear a lot of experiences from people that often are depressing. For instance, I talked to a man for twenty minutes about his lack of ability to get a job in the current economy and how congress has limited his ability to have a normal life. These stories dwell on me because I feel horrible that I (the intern) cannot help them.

My job requires me to pass along these messages but unfortunately they are hardly addressed and rarely do the questions get answered. On other occasions, I get rather interesting phone calls that could be considered to be crazy. These phone calls require me to keep a professional attitude while the content is extremely bizarre. For instance, I learned all about a monkey attack from a constituent call; the constituent wanted to know the Congressman’s opinion on the subject but I literally had no clue how to deal with it. After some time dealing with these people, I feel more comfortable giving answers to these people that are professional and courteous. This internship has taught me valuable phone skills and I now know how to deal with angry, and upset people better due to it.