The other day, I called an office only to receive a busy signal. I hung up thinking, “Did I really just hear a busy signal?!” I called again, half hoping someone would answer, and half hoping that I could hear the tones again. It felt so strange, since I haven’t heard one in years!

Several packages should have arrived while we were gone, but they never showed up. In fact, our mailbox was still empty after almost two weeks. We checked tracking information to discover the packages were back at their origin. That was odd, to say the least. This is not the first time we haven’t received packages, either.

So what happened to our mail, anyway?!

Some Nancy Drew sleuthing uncovered the truth. Apparently our mailbox had filled up quickly, catching the eye of our mail courier. Did you know there is a policy which allows the mail courier to return your mail if it has been untouched for 10 days?

Me neither.

And it wasn’t even 10 days…. Moving on.

I called to speak with the mail courier’s supervisor, who oversees package delivery. The goal was to figure out if there is a way to leave packages unattended. We now dread seeing the pink slip, since it means our package is under lockdown at the post office. That pink slip increases hassle times a thousand.

The worst is when we have been HOME during the mail delivery, yet we get the pink slip anyway… As in, no one even approached the door to ring the doorbell! BLECH. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful for the amazingness that is our postal system, but we’re not really trying, are we?

When I called to confront the issue, I was immediately greeted with a busy signal. It caught me off guard. It felt like another life when I last heard one. I’ve tried occasions since this, to no avail.

But all of this — the missing mail with no notice, the withheld packages, the pink slips, the busy signal, the inability to reach a living person — all adds up to an undeniable “BUSY” signal to the customer (me).

This experience blasted a silence hinting at my insignificance as a customer. A “you’re not even good enough to insult directly, so I won’t even acknowledge your existence” kind of feeling.

Ignoring people is a deep kind of disrespect — no, stronger than that — a deep kind of hate. Be acutely aware of what your actions say to your customers, fellow team members, and even your friends. You might just be blaring a busy signal, unaware…