customer service pet peeves

I never knew that dealing with an angry caller could be so confusing. Today I sat in a meeting discussing a list of phrases to train my employees with when dealing with upset people. We can't say "sorry" "no problem" "policy" "you know" "like"....the list goes on and on. When did it get so confusing?! The sad part is is that its necessary. You would be amazed at the types of callers we get. Completely irrational, rude, demeaning, ignorant, and down right mean! How am I supposed to help someone when they are yelling at me!? "ma'am I'm trying to help you..." "no you're not, you don't know nuttin' 'bout me. You've ruined my life." Come on lady. Really. Pull yourself together. I couldn't have ruined your life. You ruined your life with your procrastination. So many things I wish I could say to people but instead I say, "I can see you're frustrated, let me help you." I actually had a woman the other day say, "you don't understand, I'm in the military, not that you even care. You probably don't even care about your country." I was actually speechless. I love my job:)