S.C. Gov. orders workers to be cheerful on phone

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina's governor is ordering state workers to cheerfully answer phones with the phrase "It's a great day in South Carolina." Never mind the state's 11.1 percent jobless rate and the fact that one in five residents are on Medicaid.

Republican Nikki Haley issued the order at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, saying the phrase will put workers in a better mood and remind them that they work for the public. She also says the public will feel better, too.

While Haley wants South Carolina residents feeling upbeat, there's no word yet whether workers who refuse to use the greeting will suffer any consequences.

Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian called the greeting juvenile and, in many cases, inappropriate. He says it's a great day for someone living in the Governor's Mansion.

[VirgilCole]

I have to laugh at some of these comments.

Most of you only have to say "Do you want fries with that?" and never even have to worry about answering the phone anyway.

Quit crying about how the boss wants her employees to answer the phone.

And for the ones who say they actually work on S.C.? You'll either do as you're told or you can feel free to find a new job.

I can guarantee you there is some one waiting in the wings that would be more that happy to take yours.

[ladyang]

How about answering the phone, by telling folks they've just called the state of Mississippi. People in SC are too stupid to know the differnce.

[VirgilCole]

I doubt you've ever even met anyone from either S.C. OR Mississippi, but I'm sure you would recognize stupid if you saw it.

It stares back at you from the mirror every day.

(yes that person with the dumbfounded expression is your reflection)

[lynn771]

Gov. Haley, I find it hard to believe that you thought this was a good idea. I want someone who works in a govenment office to answer the phone in a professional manner, Good morning, afternoon, how may I direct your call. Most people will see this as just one more example of how government, state and federal our out of touch with real life. fix it now please, just toss the idea back into the trash.

[Lindag10]

I worked many years as a secretary and I was ALWAYS instructed to identify the office in which I was working, not to make some inane statement. Answering the phone in such a manner will only lead the public to perceive the state employees as unprofessional. If South Carolina had a poor previous governor (who ran off to be with his mistress) this current one is compounding the problem with her nonsense.

[realist51]

Lets see what is this really a worker MANDATE across the state to tell you how to answer a phone! Really! lets not mandate health care for all but lets dictate to workers how to answer a phone. Hmmm, what was wrong with "Hello state of south Carolina health and human services" for example.

[Progress4USA]

She stole that idea from South Dakota...they answer their state phones with: "It could be worse, you could be in North Dakota...how can I help you?"

[Charlemagne712]

Were still beating Mississippi, how may I help you?

[WitchBroom]

State sponsored phoniness... ha ha ha

The next thing she'll have state employees doing is telling residents it's raining outside when in fact the state is peeing on them.

[curious2knownow]

WarEagleInSC...If what you say is correct, I would have to agree. I would also have to say this extremely abbreviated article left too much information out to make an informed opinion. Shame of CBSNews!!!

[WarEagleInSC]

This order applies to all Cabinet Agencies. In SC, those are: Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services; Commerce; Corrections; Employment and Workforce;Health and Human Services;Insurance; Juvenile Justice; Labor, Licensing and Regulation; Motor Vehicles; Parks, Recreation and Tourism; Probation, Parole and Pardon Services; Public Safety; Revenue; Social Services; Transportation; and State Law Enforcement Division.


All of these agencies were notified late this afternoon of the governor's order. We were told very clearly that the governor's office would be doing spot checking to ensure ALL employees were answering the phones with this greeting. When asked what would happen if we forgot (seeing as we have had a standard professional greeting for the 10 years I have worked there), we were told that we needed to ensure in any way we could that this did not happen. No exceptions.

[kenhamlett]

It is OK for a state worker to say "It's a great day in South Carolina"

Everyone else in this territory's government is lying to the people so it is natural that the they answer the phone in the same way.
Hey their Constitution is even a lie.

[omded]

It actually sounds like a pretty good idea to me. After all, every day will be ony as much as you decide to make it, so, you might as well make it a happy one. However, if you want to dwell on the bad stuff, then you're really asking for what you get. And, isn't life just far too short to waste being unhappy?

[justsane-2009]

there is a difference between an individual making a conscious decision to be positive, and an employee being compelled to recite a meaningless "cheerful" greeting. the first will bolster a more positive frame of mind for the individual who has already made the choice to be more upbeat. the second will create resentment in the employee who does not share gov. haley's blindered view of the state of n. carolina, and probably considers himself a realist.

[curious2knownow]

I would guess if a democrat was in office, Dick Harpootlian would not have said what he did. I think it's a great idea. It has been proven that if you have a positive attitude, it is infectious and is passed on. What's the problem except politics?

[WarEagleInSC]

The problem is that this is totally inappropriate to many of the agencies. This order applies to DSS, Department of Revenue, State Police, Corrections, etc. This applies to the employee answering a call from the family of a murder victim. To the employee answering a call from a person calling to report child abuse, or who has just lost custody of their child. This applies to the employee answering a call from a business owner whose business has been shut down because of tax issues. In the 30 minutes after this order was issued, 6 of my coworkers were cussed out because the callers felt the employee was being condescending. It just makes a difficult job even more difficult. This would be fine for the tourism department or commerce department, but not the agencies dealing daily with people going through a life-changing crisis.

[AAnnie52]

Exactly, WarEagleinSC - answering the phone professionally without a snarl in the voice is one thing; a perky chirrupy phoney-baloney greeting is another. Personally I'd say "Good morning/afternoon. My apologies but I am required to say "It's a great day in South Carolina!" Now, how may I help you?" Seriously, why not just use Mr. Rogers' theme song "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood" for hold music instead?