I’ve been working at an on-campus housing customer service center for the past three years in college. Needless to say, I love my job, my co-workers, and my boss (who has the driest dad jokes)! It’s super satisfying to log in mountains of packages, sort piles of mails, and solve all kinds of minor to major problems for the residents. It’s also very fun to people-watch, while quietly sitting behind the desk. (I promise I’m not a creep!) However, sometimes this “challenging” (aka. Mundane) job can be quite frustrating… Here are things CSC staff want to tell their dear residents/customers:

1. No email notification, no package!

Every single time we get to work, at least one person would come requesting for a package, only to find out we don’t have it yet. Dear residents, if we have your package, we will send you an email notification! If you didn’t get notification from US, the CSC, then your package is not in the building yet, regardless what Amazon, USPS, UPS told you! All packages go through a mail stop on campus first and then get distributed to different buildings. When Amazon, UPS, USPS (or whatever carrier you have) told you that your package is delivered, that means the package is delivered to the mail stop, not necessarily individual buildings!

2. Please please please use your legal name on incoming packages & mail!

We understand that you really like your nicknames! Hearing someone call you by your legal full name can be stressful sometimes (like when your mom is mad at you and yells, “John David Doe! Get yourself over here!”). But, we really really really NEED you to put down your legal full name when you are ordering packages! Our computer system, by default, has your legal full names in store. If your package only has your nickname, we won’t be able to find you in the system! Well, sometimes it is fun to pretend to be a detective and try to crack the mystery of your name to find the true recipient. However, when there are mountains of packages waiting to be logged in, it’s really frustrating and time-consuming to try to find you from thousands of residents living on this campus! So, please, to ensure you can get your package on time and to help us accelerate the logging process, use your legal full name!

3. Please take your headphones off when talking to us

Yes, we are here to serve you, but please remember that we’re human beings, too. We have hearts, souls, and feelings. We are not just student workers. We are your age and we are your peer students. We might even sit in the same classrooms for some classes. We do our best to meet our job expectations and to serve you. We only ask to be respected as fellow human beings. The least you can do is to take at least one of your headphones off when you ask us for help. Thanks very much!

4. If the printer doesn’t work, try another printer!

We hear you – the printer is always broken! We’re just as frustrated as you are! But we’re not technicians… We will always try our best to fix the printer for you. Sometimes, the printer just won’t respond to us! If it doesn’t work even after we tried to fix it, please cut us some slacks. Don’t give us attitude and go try the printer at another nearby CSC!

5. Please remember to choose “letter size” when printing, so that printer won’t glitch!

Although the printer breaks down a lot, sometimes the printer is not necessarily broken! It’s really important that you choose to print “letter size” rather than default option before you send commands to the printer! The printers at USC Student Housing, for some reasons, usually only recognize “letter size” documents. If you leave it at default, the printer may simply not respond! Please make sure you chose “letter size” before yelling about how the printer doesn’t work.

6. No, we do not have clothing iron, portable A/C, air mattress…

We provide many services, but we’re not hotel customer services…

10. Don’t be afraid to make a sound and let us know you need help

When we have work shirt and name tag on, we’re here to serve you. Some of you are so kind that you won’t even make a sound when you truly need help! Don’t be afraid to politely interrupt us from whatever we are doing when you approach us. Fake cleaning your throat and softly saying “hello” are both effective ways to get our attention. Don’t be shy to ask for our help and we’ll do our best to always notice you approaching first!

11. Try chatting with us when getting all your business done

It can get boring sitting at the desk sometimes. People so often only come with straight faces and leave as soon as they get their packages. We understand that you may be busy. Who in college isn’t busy all the time? But, wouldn’t it be fun and kind of stress-relieving to chit-chat with us for a couple minutes while you’re getting your business done (e.g. getting packages, submitting work orders, etc.)?