No Fortitude For Longitude, Part 19

At our call center, we are not allowed to give our location due to security and an incident that happened with a customer and a rep a few years ago.

A caller asks for my location and I tell her what we are supposed to.

Me: *Politely* “Ma’am, I’m on the east coast.”

Customer: “Oh, sounds foreign. Where is that?”

I am resisting the urge to head-desk when I look at her address. It’s in California.

Me: “Ma’am, you’re in California, right?”

Customer: “Right!”

Me: “Well, that’s the west coast of the United States. The east coast is on the opposite side of the country.”

Customer: *Totally innocent and not being mean at all* “Oh, wow! You guys speak excellent English! I know that outsourcing doesn’t always get good speakers but you’re one of them! The east coast… I wonder which part of India that is in…”

I ended the call as humanely as possible and closed it down just enough in time to burst out laughing.

Related:
No Fortitude For Longitude, Part 18
No Fortitude For Longitude, Part 17
No Fortitude For Longitude, Part 16
No Fortitude For Longitude, Part 15
No Fortitude For Longitude, Part 14