Reply #112

Best off to vent in a safe environment. Work however is not safe one bit.

I speak with a lot of our customers over the phone - I do essentially "call center work" albeit at home these days. My employers strictly prohibit us from engaging in political conversations and urge us to steer the conversation to business affairs. The language I use is something like "I understand your feelings in this matter, however I am here to help with your concerns regarding ." If the matter progresses I state that I cannot speak about my employers' stance on xyz political issue, especially if it has not been made public. If raised further, here's the phone number for public relations.

Fortunately so far I have never had to deal with a billing issue over a political campaign where a customer calls in and says that they didn't donate to xyz political campaign. I de-politicize it quickly by likening it to fast food burger joints e.g. "I would feel upset too - like if I knew I visited McDonalds for my lunch, only to be billed by Burger King for it". The only concern I really had was more personal - seeing someone had sent in a donation to such-and-such political campaign, for a candidate that I am personally opposed to. I worry that it does bother my judgment in my work environment which is to be apolitical, and non religious.