Wednesday, January 14, 2009

"This is Tian. How may I help you?"

Yesterday at work I answered the phone to an anxious woman. She was still in the middle of submitting every portion of her application to our program and was "just calling" to give me the heads up that one part wouldn't make it before the deadline. She continued to explain she would move forward with the admittance process and continue as if she had turned everything in even though her application was incomplete.

Oh, that's so nice of her.

Where do people miss out on such social understanding? I mean, I may be accused of beating to my own drum at times, and I often like to violate the social norm but in good measure. But I don't just walk out of the grocery store with my Canada Dry and processed cookies without paying because the line is too long and I don't have time right then to pay.

After I explained that she must have that portion of the application submitted before she could proceed with anything associated with our department, she insisted on telling me her story, again, which had to do with the fact that she moved from New York. The credentials and endorsement she needed had to come from a previous associate in the Big Apple. And,..."I'm just telling you that it won't get to you before the deadline." And,..."people are busy in New York."

You never know what new things you'll learn at work.