Lord God, MM, I know whereof you speak. I never hated Christmas more than the year I worked Postal Service customer support. And then I listened to the entitled morons working around me as they laughed at the people whose monthly welfare checks were missing.

There needs to be somewhere that Customer/Tech Support people can go to try and hold on to their humanity. A clearinghouse for stories where humanity was not proven to be a lost cause.

Ohhhh, preach it, MM.

That's terrific.

I wish I could read the whole book right now, MM.

MM, is it OK if I forward that to some of my coworkers? I think they'd find it relevant--we're not CS, but we/they are professional compassion-givers who are chronically overstretched and often burned out.

Yeah, sure, Susan. Rock on.

Thanks!

If you want a beta, I'll do it, MM.

That's fantasic, MM. And I agree with -t, that piece would make a good anchor for the rest of your stories.

Thank you guys.

Erika, I'll probably take you up on it, if ever I get around to rearranging what I've already written and whatnot.