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10:26 PM
Bikram Vohra
JournalismPakistan.com
April 1, 2014
A senior professional visiting town recently was pleased to hear about an old hostel classmate from way back when he was working here and he naturally called him up.
Can I speak to your MD, he said.
After the standard quiz contest he was told that the operator was not authorized to put a call through from 'an old buddy, however close' never mind the desire to surprise him so he would have to identify himself.
Which was acceptable and he gave his name. After a long silence the operator comes back and says, the MD is in a meeting but he has said you should leave your number and he will get back to you.
Six hours later the old school buddy's secretary calls and says the MD has had to rush off to a second meeting but she has been asked to fix up time for an interview on Wednesday if 9 am is suitable.
You did give him my name, didn't you?
Yes Sir.
And he said come for an interview?
He asked me to fit you into his schedule, Sir.
Well, lady tell him very gently he can stuff his interview, he was a twit in school and he's a twit now, interview indeed, I only wanted to say hello to an old friend.
Quite put out by it all he asks me how the guy could have the crust to put his secretary on the line.
I laugh and tell him his friend suffers from expatitis nervosis which is why he needs to surround himself with reassurances that he is someone important.
Yes, but we were classmates, I only wanted to say hello.
He doesn't know that, he believes you want to sponge him for a job or you are contacting him because he is a big shot, he won't call back and if he does he'll make his secretary do it, there are sad little idiots in town who ask their servants to dial numbers of friends and then the servant says, please wait, Sir will talk to you, this guy thinks he has passed you by.
I don't even know what he does, nor do I care.
Yes, but he does not know that. The phone systems are weapons. They have to be used cleverly to score brownie points. For example, if you want to suck up you give your mobile number, if you feel the person is not important, don’t even go there. If he can’t see you he’s letting you know how important he is, he is sending you a message.
He can go stuff himself.
That, too.
(The writer is a Senior Editorial Advisor of Khaleej Times and the paper’s former Editor. He has also been the Editor of Gulf News, Gulf Today, Emirates Today and Bahrain Tribune)
If my call is so important to them, why don’t they answer it for 22 minutes?
How come when I want to, but something specific online is the only item out of stock.
When I get into a queue or lane going fast, the moment I get in, it becomes the slowest and refuses to budge.
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