Column: My experience working at a phone bank

By Beth Wang
Posted 11/2/18

One late night, a woman with a tired voice had just answered my call. I began with the usual script, half expecting the woman to snap at me and hang up suddenly. However, she responded, so I asked …

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Column: My experience working at a phone bank

Posted

One late night, a woman with a tired voice had just answered my call. I began with the usual script, half expecting the woman to snap at me and hang up suddenly. However, she responded, so I asked the question, “What do you think is the most important issue facing Rhode Island today?” She started to speak so I started taking notes...

Like any other high school student, I spent the summer working on SAT prep material and finding internships to fill the college application. I finally settled on interning with the "Whitehouse for Senate" reelection campaign for two reasons: it was the closest of all the options, as in distance, and I was genuinely interested in how to run a political campaign. 

One of my main tasks as an intern was to participate in phone banks where I called people to persuade them to vote for the Senator or just to listen to their concerns, but sometimes it doesn’t end up well. 

The first week turned out to be a total eye-opening experience for me. 

I was shocked when I received so many heated response from men and women who shouted and yelled over the phone. Probably because I was too naive about how the sensitive topic of politics could bring out such anger. As a 16 year old, I was blind to the divisiveness of politics that brought out the hostility and disregard for polite conversations. When told to empathize with the constituent, I questioned how we could empathize if people, like this man and many others, are incapable of reaching across the aisle and engaging in a conversation? 

It wasn’t just this call that had made me think differently. I got similar calls of “not interested” or “too tired” or negative responses that made me quite frustrated. As someone who’s impatient and likes to see positive results in a short amount of time, I was disappointed by the response rates I was getting. After about a month, I wanted to quit because I just simply felt defeated. But I’m grateful that I stuck it through due to my parent’s continued encouragements. 

I headed back the next week, poised to keep working with a positive attitude in mind. After hours of being on the phone, I was finally talking with the woman with a tired voice. I found out that she had just gotten off work and was now making dinner. In the middle of boiling the pasta, she told me about her journey from being a welfare recipient to supporting herself through college. She also spoke about the financial state of Rhode Island and wanted to ensure that the working class with be protected. And though she didn’t commit herself to supporting our candidates at the end of the day, she took the time to voice her concerns and wishes. As I ended the call, I realized that this was the call that I had been waiting for.  

Beth Wang is a junior at Barrington High School. 

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.