A cribby crabby post

Ever had one of those days when you felt that it was you against the whole world? The last two days were one of those days for me. It was weird. I always believe in the principle that the “Customer is always right” and yet I had to be a bit assertive with the two customers. It is tough when the customers themselves do not know the rules of the game. That everything can be done for the sake of customer satisfaction, except for unlimited free work. Should I put up one of those signs in front of my desk “Mujhse dosti karo, mere dukaan se nahi” (make friends with me, not my business.. don’t mind the grammar, it wont sound good unless it’s a direct literal translation :P) and “Aaj nakad, kal udhaar” (Cash today, loan tomorrow) There is nothing called a free lunch. Cliché? Yes, but why doesn’t someone explain this clichéd line to my customer?. Friends, roman, countrymen.. let me pause while my heart comes back to me.

To add to the frust… the escalations keep piling up. I hate trying to act all important and saying to people “Sorry, I don’t have the time to grab a cup of coffee” and “Can I call you back, I am in the middle of an escalation” and then never call back because I am on escalation calls all day. I said similar statements multiple times yesterday, couldn’t reply to people who pinged me, and returned home really late. Its fun being an escalation manager till the escalations come, after that you wonder why you ever took up the responsibility.

It didn’t stop there. On my way back a drunk man on a wheelchair tumbled on the escalator. I have noticed this before, in situations like this most (stress on most) Europeans are too shocked to react. My Indian colleague and I rushed to help immediately, one trying to stop him from rolling over and one trying to stop the escalator. And one other guy, seemed like a south American dude also came to help. We were able to stop the escalator, put the man back on his wheelchair and pick up the things. He was too drunk to know what is happening, and muttered some dirty expletives to all of us. Ah.. it wasn't exactly the most thankful day anyway.

And today morning I saw a small wiry framed lady, with Scandinavian looks, probably Swedish, trying to drag a bag at the metro station, which I could swear was as heavy as her. I couldn’t help it, and offered to help her, and she looked at me with shock and a not-so-pleased expression. “No thanks, I can do this myself”. This is not the first time its happening to me, I should just learn from my experience. This is gender equality at a completely different level. Women and elder people get offended if you get up and offer your seat in a crowded train. Its just that the instinct is too strong, the Jesuit school coaching is too deeply ingrained. Sigh, talk of chivalry being dead in this world.

I try keeping my posts non cribby, but all these had to be vented out ;). Now that its all been vented out, I hope the rest of my day will be good. After all it is a bright, sunny and pleasant day! :).

Picture reference: http://www.trygve.com/blog_2001_05.html