Behind the Scenes: Thank you very much
The eighth story of Red Sheets is much more interesting than it seems at first sight. Maybe the title doesn’t tell us at all what the story is about, but I really don’t think I could have chosen a better name. And, moreover, it is based on a work anecdote that my girlfriend, Karen, told me. Of course, it is adapted and modified for the sake of fiction, but Thank You Very Much has much of the real life within it.
In addition to being partially real, what I like about this story is its contemporaneity, set in that situation in which many young people (and not so young sometimes) live: the working life of a Contact Center. The infortunate life of Fabiana, the tale’s main character, isn’t a mere invention, it’s something that hundreds of people live day by day. In Karen’s case, she had to put up with a phone call in which an unpleasant guy beat his wife for a mistake she had made… without being able to end the call. Because that’s the way the rules are: you can not end any calls, under any circumstances.
Can you imagine, having to endure for hours, five or six days a week, the phone calls of the most unpleasant people? If you have worked in a Contact Center, you do not need to imagine it. If you haven’t done it, then you should begin to have a little more consideration with those who are recieving the call on the other side of the line, because they are not machines, they are human beings who seek to earn their bread like any other. I have friends and acquaintances who think it’s funny to be rude or to make fun of the people that take their calls at Contact Centers, and I never lose the opportunity to make them see how wrong they are.
So that was the trigger of the tale, the story of Fabiana’s life was made up for the practical purposes of the story. Of course, at this point in the book, we already know that someone is going to die, and Thank you Very Much has a couple of bloodsheds. But these aren’t just random murders: they have their origins in another problem: family violence. You will see then how with this simple story I tried to attack several problems that afflict our current society.
I truly believe that we shouldn’t lose respect for others. No one likes to be mistreated in any way; then, why is it that some people find it so entertaining or so right to despise others? In this sense, The Wall and Thank you Very Much are very similar within thier essence.
Once I heard someone say that if we all strive to make the zone around us the best place in the world, then the world itself would be a better place. Yes, it sounds utopian, and may not have much to do with these stories, but that’s what comes to mind when I write these lines.
Well now I’m rambling, so I’m ending this article! See you next!
Duilio Giordano Faillaci
