There are two phenomena that I observe too frequently these
days, and I am pretty sure that they are deeply rooted in our national
culture.
PLEASE ANSWER ME! :(
The Customs official simply did not answer my email the
first time. Nor the second time. Not even the third time. And it wasn’t because he felt as if he was
better than me. Nor was it because he
couldn’t bother. He couldn’t find the
information needed to provide and answer and so he thought he couldn’t
answer. How do I know? I got him eventually via phone and this is
what was explained to me.
The Supervisor downstairs didn’t answer my email the first
time. Nor the second time. Not even the third time. Like the Customs official, he didn’t have the
info to answer what I was asking.
The Buyer didn’t answer my query about the timing of the
shipment. Not because I had pissed her
off one time too many (at least not in this instance), but because she didn’t
have the info.
So why is it so difficult to acknowledge the email and
explain what is happening? WHY? Even if you don’t have the answer that you feel
the person is demanding, just give the answer you can nuh…please? Please?
APOLOGIES ARE INFRA
DIG :(
Lord have mercy! When
will we as a people recognize that to apologise for someone else’s discomfort
or bad experience is not a sign of weakness?
It is not even an admission of culpability. It is a refined, civilized and mature display
of empathy and at its simplest level, is merely an acknowledgement of someone
else’s disappointment.
The Head of Department did not apologise for her team member’s
rudeness to an outsider.
The Customer Service lady did not apologise for the absence
of that critical item.
The doctor did not apologise for keeping her patients
waiting.
But they should have.
Labels: apologise, culture, Customer service, email, sorry
