POWERGRAMS

CUSTOMER SERVICE No Time to Retire ANNISTON OFFICE KEEPS SENIOR REPRESENTATIVE BUSY by Gilbert Nicholson • Photos by Ted Tucker Pat Wilkinson has seen it all, from customers who are cheerful, worried or angry to situations that are just plain weird. No matter what comes up at her downtown Anniston drive- thru line, Wilkinson has found responding with simple kindness seems to work best. "The Bible says a soft answer turns away wrath. I know that's true," Wilkinson said. "I've learned if you are kind to people, it eases a lot of tension." Wilkinson has seen a car catch on fire and a customer ram a U-Haul through the drive-thru that sent parts flying. Then there was a homeless man who lived in the shrubs just outside the drive-thru window — without her knowing it. "He dug a hole in the bushes out beside our offices and had been there several months before he was discovered by a security officer," the Customer Service representative said before adding, "He only came out at night." She even had a customer pass out in a car. "I sure thought she was dead," Wilkinson said. Thankfully, she was not. It might seem the toughest days for her are on the first and third of each month when she said, "They are lined up three lanes across and all the way to the end of the parking lot all day." In fact, the hardest part of the job is getting the night deposits out. "No matter what the weather, I have to go outside and get down on my knees to get it out. Believe me, at my age, that ain't easy." She is 75. "I love my job and it keeps me going. That's why I want to work as long as I can," Wilkinson said. "Maybe by 80 I'll be ready to retire." That is, if the lines of cars don't keep getting long every day like they do the first and third of each month. "They bring us lunch but often we don't have time to eat. We'll grab a bite in between customers. It's a challenge and very tiring, but I love it. Now if that happened every day, I don't know if I would love it so much." Wilkinson, who has a sharp wit and nimble mind, grew up in Anniston. The song "Cap and Gown" rang true for her, as a month after graduating from Anniston High, she married. "In the ensuing years, I had three boys and a girl. I stayed at home and took care of them until they were all teenagers," she said. Her first job was with Regions Bank, in 1977, where she was a jack-of-all-trades as a bookkeeper, switchboard operator and loan department employee. She joined Alabama Power in 1987 in the Anniston Call Center. She transferred to customer 31

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