I was just reading the Sunday Star online, which I look forward to every other Sunday..
Their Sunday mag is packed with some real goody-goody, educational & fun stuff..
Wow, how i used to enjoy Mom's Sunday lunch & wash it down with juicy stories & articles in Sunday Star, while lazing on my bed.. N how much i'd give to live those days again..n again..
Aaagh, dats another story entirely..
This post is about Huzir Sulaiman's "From Bed to Worse" Wide Angle - Sunday Mag 25/01/09.
Now, what is it with people who know not the meaning of the word "integrity"? Who cannot care less about honouring their words? What's with the lame attitude they present, especially when they are paid to serve customers like us and its our money that puts food on their table?
I believe that Huzir's wife has got all the patience that I do not have.. If it had been me in the same scenario, God-only-knows what agony the ears of those creeps would have had to endure..
(No..really, people won't believe when I say I have a very short temper & a nasty choice of language when I am pissed off..Until they see me in action, then they take me seriously..)
Like it happened to me last week..
My job requires me to visit some embassies here to get certain things done.. Of all, I need to liaise quite often with the Indonesian Embassy because all the constuction workers here are Indons..
Well, so I needed to get some visa document attested by them embassy people. Now, its such a simple process which they charge us exorbitantly for and take their own sweet time (3 working days between collection of the document & attesting it) to get it done..
Ok,well..So they have some so-called procedures & ok, that may justify the time period.. So, i went on Monday the 19th to submit the document & the guy at the counter happily snatched AED 75 from me for attesting a 1-page document and told me to return 3 days later to collect it..
Excerpts of the conversation between Counter Guy A and me..
Me : Sir, just to confirm, do I collect it on Thursday?
CG A : (Looks at the calendar, uses his finger to count 3 days from Monday.. Then, slowly looks up and
tells me) Yes (a mono-syllable).
Me : What time shall I come over and whom do I meet? Should I call first before turning up?
CG A : (Now looks at his watch, then at the wall clock behind him..Then back at his watch again before
looking up at me) Anytime.. Anyone at the counter.. No need to call..
Me : (Sensing that he was getting irritated) Thanks, sir. See you on Thursday..
3 days later, on Thursday the 22nd, I went again.. I particularly told the driver to fetch me as early as 7.15am, so that we can reach the embassy at the time they open, collect the document and be back to the site early..
N so, despite the mad rush hour and all, we reached there at 8.45am..
I went inside and saw a number of people already waiting to get their things sorted out..It was now about 15 minutes since the Embassy opened and all their counter staff were sitting in their resting place behind the counters and having breakfast while chatting away and playing with the kids loitering around in the office (Well, they happen to get the privilege of living within the premises of the Embassy)..
This scenario puts me thru a frenzy of impatience immediately (having being got used to it back in the some government departments in Malaysia). So, I go to the counter & ring the bell.
Aaah, our CG A peeks from behind the partition, looks at me.. Then turns around chatting with his son again. (Aaaagh, the nerves he has).. SO, I ring the bell again, this time incessantly as loudly as possible.
CG A : (Walks up to the counter and looks at me blankly)..
Me : (Not wanting to start the day with hammering people, I started off very politely) Good morning
Sir, I’m here to pick up the document I gave for attestation 3 days back.
CG A : (He looks at his watch, then at the clock..yet again..maybe that’s how his teacher taught him)
You have to wait..
Me : Huh? How long do I wait, sir?
CG A : I don’t know.
Me : Excuse me? What sort of an answer is that supposed to be?
CG A : Maybe half an hour.
Me : But excuse me, sir..You were the one who told me to pick it up anytime today..
CG A : (Somewhat irritated) Yes, but he Mr. Ahmad is not here yet. You have to wait..
Me : Ok, thanks (Thinking to myself..Thank God I have Martina Cole’s Goodnight Lady to keep me
from insanity)..
It was 9.45am, n the half-an hour that he promised was up, but the Ahmad guy was nowhere to be seen..
More people were waiting to see the officers, but of course, who cares? They were busy reading the newspaper and one was watching an Indonesian drama on TV..
I went back to the counter.
Me : Excuse me, sir. It is already half an hour. Where is Mr. Ahmad?
CG A : Just wait.
By now, my temper was flaring. I went back to my seat and continued reading my Martina Cole.
With every page moving forward, my BP was moving together with it..
I looked up at the clock again and it showed 20 past 10am..
I approached the the strikingly handsome looking guy at the counter, who was into his newspaper..
Me : Good morning, sir. I came here to collect an attested agreement copy. Can you help me?
CG B : Yes, madam. But Mr. Ahmad is not here yet. He has the copies.
At this point, CG A comes to the counter and tells me what he had told me more than an hour ago, in some rude manner (looking at me as if to ask if I’m deaf / just plain stupid..)
Ok, so that was the last straw..
Me : Excuse me, gentlemen.. I have been waiting here since 8.45 am, and that is a 1 ½ hour wait.. just
to collect a document which is supposed to be collected today at anytime according to what you
told me 3 days back.. Now you please tell me, where is this Mr. Ahmad at this point of time?
CG B : He is upstairs in his room.
Me : Why is he still in his room when he is supposed to have been at the counter more than an hour
ago? And how long do you expect me to wait here?
CG B : He will finish all his work in the room, only then he comes down..
Me : N do you expect me to wait till he comes down at whatever time he wishes to? Excuse me, but it
happens to be that my salary is paid by a company which expects me to accomplish a task as
efficiently as possible with the shortest downtime as possible. It also happens to be that the
particular company is not this embassy, so please don’t try to buy my time. I do not have the luxury
of time to come here and wait for not less than an hour, every time I step into your office. This is the
third time I’m coming here to collect something and the last time, I ended up waiting for more than 5
hours,n I don’t think it’s funny. I have my driver waiting outside and I need to go back to my office.Now, if I don’t get a proper answer from you, I will barge into
Mr.Ahmad’s room upstairs and talk to him directly. Please try to be professional instead of handing
out lame excuses all the time. It reflects badly not only on you, but on your country as well, which is a
great thwart you are doing to your country.
By now, the crowd stood quietly waiting to watch what happens next. I strode back to my seat and sat down, fuming all over.
The guy who was sitting next to me, got up quickly and went to stand by the door, while CG A excused himself and scurried out of the room.
He appeared in less than 2 minutes, took a stack of documents which was on his counter and looked thru it before taking out my document and calling me. By now, a number of people who were there for the same reason were already queuing up to collect their documents and visas.
Even so, he told me to go first and collect the document.
He had it all the while, right on top of his desk, and he made me wait for nearly 2 hours, and had I not screamed the place down, he’d still be giving me some excuses, 3 days down the road..
I just collected the document and walked out, without a word, not a backward glance.
Sometimes, you just have to scream your lungs out to be heard and taken seriously..
Diplomatic handling has never been a virtue for me, not at times like this..
Too bad, sometimes I do wish I had the patience of a cow..
P/S : Downside of it :-
Since the place was fitted with CCTVs at every nook and corner, I may not even be able to step into the embassy after this. Pro’ly, they’d have told the security guard outside to deter me from going in there again for the ruckus I created.
Or maybe, they’d poison the next document I submit, and when I collect it 3 days later, I’d die within the time I leave the embassy and reach my office.
Or most likely, they’d have laughed their heads off during their lunch break, sharing gossip about the funny old lady who walked in and behaved like she was mad or something.
