I keep trying to make the word customer something that's not four letters long in my mind. My latest tactic in this effort is to try to remember that we're all customers sometimes. Chao knows I've found myself standing in front of a counter, playing dumb because I was dumb and it seemed best to go with the flow. My problems usually got resolved, and it wasn't because of me -- it was because someone else was willing to help me when I asked them.
I have to remember this because, at this moment, my SO is sort of my customer. She's deciding the specs for part of the credit card doohickey, and I've finally gotten her to agree to something firm about them.
I've been taking a lot of deep breaths as we dance around each other's situation. Hers is based partly on the politics of the collections department; mine is based entirely on what I can (and cannot) do with Perl. Needless to say, I feel mine are more justifiable, but realistically hers are going to set the standard.
I need to come back to this entry when I am frustrated beyond belief (again), as I probably will be.