Dear Editor,
There seem to be an attitude of callous indifference to interpersonal relationships and/or human relations by some top members of organisations, institutions and business entities when dealing with the public or persons involved within their own sphere.
Of recent I wanted to treat myself to a morning breakfast at a popular eating house in the city. To indulge this, I had to join a line with just four or five persons. The man in front of me ordered his breakfast and I ordered mine at the same time; there were two attendants. The first attendant when taking my neighbour’s order, proceeded to place his breakfast in a box; immediately the customer told her “I am using it here.”
There was an immediate breakdown in communication and relations between the customer and the attendant. The attendant froze in an instant, as if something terrible had happened, so for a moment she practically refused to accommodate the customer with a plate, but began to argue with him. I thought at that moment it was none of my business, but I could not restrain myself, so butted in on the side of the customer and the organisation hoping to strike a balance.
At this point I was about to have my breakfast when the second attendant asked the question, “Use or take away?” I said use, then strongly suggested to the first attendant that she satisfy the need of her customer since she had not asked whether it was a take-away meal or was to be used on site. I went on to remind her that the company she represented was customer oriented and customer satisfaction was their core value. (At least that is what I thought, although on the contrary, that was not the case, as I soon found out.) The gentleman next in line saw what was playing out and advised me that that is the way the attendants behave and no amount of talking would change her attitude because he eats there often.
Now, I got the shock of my life, when I saw the manager and took the opportunity to highlight the issue with him, hoping he would be discreet and do something to bring some balance in the issue. His response was distasteful and despicable, but it soon dawned on me that some people will continue to think and behave disdainfully and go against their mission statement.
Mr Yesu Persaud in his retirement speech spoke of three approaches of a successful organisation, institution or business: interpersonal relationships and human relations are the common denominators.
For a school teacher to ask his principal for time off to write exams at CPCE and be granted permission is good; but to deny that same student the experience of graduating is another scenario when another teacher under the same principal the same year was given time off to graduate.
To assess a student in determining whether or not they are competent or ready to write their CSEC Maths and advise the parent that it is a waste of time because the teacher does not have the confidence that the child will make it, is one thing. Then when that same child does the same subject privately (to the annoyance of the teacher) only to receive a passing grade is another thing.
This morning at 07.23 driving in the rain, heading towards the city on the East Bank Public road at the junction of Eccles and Bagotstown, there ahead of me is a young mother without an umbrella with two children, one in her arms, trying to cross the road from the eastern carriageway. None of the drivers thought of stopping for a moment to allow her to cross. I counted no less than five cars. I stopped and it grieved me that we have become a people that will justify ourselves in our own ways without thinking of the simplest of needs or showing consideration for others.
What happens when a private school admits students at the kindergartener level beyond the recommended number, and then assigns a single teacher to the class?
What happens in a case where a single parent working with a national body goes home month after month without a salary or an explanation?
What happens in a case where the government work hours for workers is forty hours in a five-day week and at the end of every eight-hour work day, you are compelled to stay and do clean-up work for the company at no extra pay?
How can a man in his right mind marry a woman who torments his life day and night for over ten years and still be happy in marriage?
How can a woman marry a man who abuses and threaten her for years and do nothing about it, but says year after year he will change?
How can a businesswoman continue to release millions of dollars month after month to a notable con-woman that amounts to over fifty million dollars?
How can an organisation manage a Dale Carnegie programme to train persons in impromptu speaking and human relations and not apply these same principles to their own staff and organisation? While it is true that we as humans differ in many ways, the way we think, rationalize, assess, behave and conduct ourselves is amazing.
I heard of a family that produced five boys; four of the boys came up to be academics in their own ways, the last son was a failure. The father of the young man always found him in a nearby mechanic shop where he spends his time when he should be in class. One day the father in frustration took him out of school and marched him straight to the dirty greasy, oily, messy mechanic shop and told the old mechanic to please let him stay and learn whatever he can right there. Years went by and the four brothers were now married and had migrated; the father was now old and could not work. He lived in a rented apartment all his life. One day his mechanic son told him, ‘Daddy I am buying a house for you, so you will not pay rent,’ and the rest is history.
We live in a society where wrong is right and right is wrong, where the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. Where black is bad and white is good; where yes means no and no means yes; where politicians’ promises are a comfort to the nation’s fools; communities are expanding by leaps and bounds but the areas have one road in and the same road out.
Indeed, I still marvel at people and the way they think and behave!
Yours faithfully,
Vanrick Beresford
