Child Speak and Customer Service

Its quite a topic to start though - but I dare you!!

Seriously, this aspect of using SL for "therapy" and being a kid avatar being "a cathartic experience" is going over to dangerous territory. Personally, I entered SL for some recreation and escapism from my own RL, and certainly not to be part of someone's therapy!

/me taps her nose

psssst....Marigold....that "recreation and escapism" is therapy too.

I think it's all therapy.....mine is retail therapy....it's quite cathartic....we just have to be careful with our time allotments and not stepping on each others' toes in the process.

I'll start it. People regularly get pi**ed off with me.
Besides I am quite stunned that adults can revert to pretending to be unable to read or have to indulge themselves in charades of this type.

Yes, one hears this sort of explanation -- the notion of RPing as "therapy" -- from time to time. It has also been used, btw, to justify rape play in SL.

Personally, I agree entirely that anyone looking to SL for real and effective therapy is barking up the wrong tree, just as I don't think I'd seek a real medical diagnosis from someone RPing a doctor in SL.

Moreover, I'd want to be VERY careful before trying to apply this kind of blanket characterization across the board to an entire culture within SL. I'd be to afraid of the response from those who do RP children.

After all, they don't call them "anklebiters" for nothing.

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"Effective therapy is barking up the wrong tree" - my real doc told me to try that but every tree I came to seemed right to me.
Why are we so careful about NOT discussing a fascinating side of human nature? Child avis seem secure in themselves to reply to our questions and our observations. if questions arent asked we'll never understand the attraction. After all, we slam every other "culture" in sl - poor old furries get a bum rap quite often.

I don't see that it needs to be just like RL to have therapeutic value. Nor do I think a professional therapist must be present for the activity to have value. My doctor encourages me to get exercise, but he doesn't accompany me on bike rides or gym trips.

It's easy to be sloppy with the terminology, which is why I think "having therapeutic value" is better than saying that it's therapy. If a person reports back to their therapist that such-and-such activity has improved things for the better, and the therapist sees no downside for that specific patient, then the therapist is likely to encourage it. The label isn't relevant, except to the insurance company.

Nor should we insist that it be therapeutic 100% of the time. If someone finds a particular role play to have therapeutic value at times, that's not a reason for insisting that they stop whenever it's not providing such value. If someone stays in character while shopping, and it takes two minutes to settle a customer service issue, that's fine.

The reason that the behavior here was inappropriate was because it was abusive of the other person's time. It would have been just as abusive if the person wasn't roleplaying but was merely being deliberately obtuse, to an extreme degree, just to get attention.

Ahhh...the stories we could tell about this group.

Just tell them to go OOC or you will have to put their problem at the back of the line..There are other people waiting for service and time is short

ahhhhhhhhh I hate that crap!!!

I ignore it!!! and I sell a ton of maternity and family things that attracts these types of people!!

If you can not speak to me like a grown adult then I just hit the old mute button!!
and if they start throwing a fit over it, boot scoot city !!do not let the sim door hit you i the ass on the way out!!

I hate the whole child acting thing to start with, it is wrong on every level, there is always some lil hidden sexual side to it.I knew one that had me fooled for a long time untill I log in and and had it set at log into last place I was (wich was her sky box) and found my self standing in front of a child av in latex and a hairy man AV doing the nasty!! ?I was so shocked!!!! no one can ever make me think different sence.I truly think it should be outlaw and no one should ever be able to RP in a child nature in a mature or adult sim.

wrong wrong wrong wrong ,hate it !!!!do not care if you hate me for saying it!!!

1 user agrees.

As for the OP situation, I'd say in OOC (Look, it's all well and good but let's just resolve the situation, I'm not here to roleplay.) or something like that. Your time is valuable too.

This. I'm a roleplayer and I'll sometimes go along with things I come across at random (eg: friend TPs me in to a Gorean area for a quick OOC chat with some Master; I still refer to those on his chain as 'boy' and 'girl', because I'm in his domain, not my own, even though the chat we're having is OOC), but business is business and when someone is in *my* domain I would ask any roleplayers to go OOC if they have a business query.

I didn't ask the question to judge or analyze.....just wanted to get a grip on protocol, and what is expected, and make sure that I didn't make a faux pas in dealing with them.

They're purchasing a significant amount of things in my store lately....so it's my responsibility to know how to take care of them concerning customer service.

I'm surprised that you hate the concept, yet sell maternity items and family things. Isn't the concept keeping you in business?

I'm not extremely pleased that someone had to take my attempt to understand, and twist it, then run off to start a thread to Analyze and Judge. But hey...that's the way it works.

Bullcrap.

Judging by the amount of exclamation points you abused, I'd say you are overreacting a bit, claiming that every child av in SL is somehow sexual, because you met ONE who was.

Isn't it possible you are overreacting a bit?

So, you are saying that since you seen children AV's as a sexual object, everyone else must also?

Your perceptions are only valid for you - no one else. If you do not want to perceive it that way, then change yourself.

Reminds me of a recent "ICarly" episode:

Man (to Sam and Carly): If you two girls don't leave, I'm going to have security carry you out.

Carly (glumly): Okay, we're leaving.

(Sam pulls a disappointed face)

Carly: What?

Sam: I kinda wanted to be carried out...

I think the child avatars are growing on me, or I am becoming more accepting of them..

anyway... I'd rather they speak in their adult voices when handeling an issue for CS.


I recall a child avatar coming in my store for a hunt, I felt bad because my prize wasnt for kids.. and I told her this.. she spoke in child speak, which was kinda cute.. then I asked if she was here with a grown up (ok ive lost my mind right) and she says yes mom and dad are here... to which they replied I dont know tht little brat.. er.. anyway... I casually told her well.. if you break it you buy it..

But to force someone to roleplay isnt so nice I believe... IMHO

But she was a nice avatar anyway and I could not help but play along.


but no on the CS....... for one thing if there is a problem you want ot be clear about the issue and speaking silly or child speak is not in anyones best interest.

I don't hate you for saying it, but you say "always" based on one experience, apparently.

Also, if you dislike your clients, you might be in the wrong business.

OP: Sounds like you got an exception there.

I know a LOT of kids, and some I've done customer service of a sort with. The most efficacious (sp) kid will whisper out of role if there's an issue that needs their attention or when they have a question about something I'm selling.

If you played that long, you are one of the minority of shop owners who understand that the customer is (almost) always right. Even when they are not. I have done my share of retail in RL. If you want to stay in business, you act like the customer is right even when you are sure they are not (unless they are scamming you or really being abusive.)

The SL kid-speak convention is kind of silly. But SL seems so empty without very many kids around that I am happy to have the kid-speakers around anyway. One of the things I like least about SL is that nearly everyone is between 20 and 40. Few kids, few middle-aged or seniors.

/me decides to only use hedgie speak from now on.

Ha! Take that, vendors!!

Don't be so sure re the 40-60 range, regardless of how they appear inworld.

btw I have the impression the over-the-top kids are younger in RL, maybe no older than low-mid 20s. Their impression is they're also engaging in fetishism versus recapturing childhood.

If I contact a store owner for customer service I want it to be easlity understood.. kinda makes scence to not RP at that time.