Warren is the software support personnel for System S sold to Client B. This position was previously held by Sandy who has since moved to a different project. Band is the hardware support personnel for the same system.
One day, a problem occurred in System S and Client B calls Warren who could not provide an answer. So, Client B calls Sandy. Sandy answers the questions posed and re-direct Client B to Warren as more information is needed to find out the cause of the problem. Client B decides to call Band.
In the following weeks, Warren refuses to speak to Sandy. Warren tells Sandy, "I have the right not to speak to you.", and that is all that Warren will say.
Months later, Warren started to speak to Sandy again. Soon, Sandy asked Warren "Why did you refuse to speak to me a few month ago?". Warren replies, "I thought that you called Band on your own to go to Client B to solve the problem. Recently, I found out that it was actually Client B himself who called Band and not you.".
So, you are Guilty until proven Innocent.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Playing Favouritism/Favoritism in the office
Romours are abound that Person A plays favouritism so be careful not to be taken in by her. This message is relayed to everyone who is currently or newly employed in the company. Depending on the naivety of the message recipient, most holds it to be the whole truth and nothing but the truth. However, what they fail to realise is that they have played into the hands of Person C who started this rumour. End result - with blind belief all will avoid Person A and refuse to be "brain washed" by her, even worst if you are caught having a conversation with her for she is trying to play favouritism games and make you join her team. Blind belief because majority will not check to find out the truth, how can they because then they will become NOT one of the team as everyone believe that it is true.
Take a look from the outside and one will be able to see that Person C is friendly to every Tom, Dick, and Harry. Person C is nice, she buys little gifts for the others; she speaks in a nice tone; she shows concern; she portrays helplessness at the right time; she always say the right thing at the right time. A second look will reveal that everyone currently or newly employed in the company talks to Person C and they are friends, they even share secrets about the rumours in the office. A third look reveals that no one really talks to Person A who is always the last to know about the office happenings and does not know about what is on the grapevine. Now, ask yourself "who is the person playing favouritism and social control?".
So, in office politics, the first strike is important. The first strike in this case mean be the first to accuse a colleague of favouritism (aka. inclination, discrimination, cronyism) or social control (or any other rumour that you want).
In the thesaurus, Favouritism is an inclination to favor some person or group; Social Control is control exerted (actively or passively) by group action.
To make the first strike you will have to be a hypocrite, hide your true feelings, and make sure you are friends with everyone.
Accuse another of an action for which you are guilty of and you will never be accused of the same because blind belief and fear has diverted the guilt to another.
"Appearances are not always what they seem".
Take a look from the outside and one will be able to see that Person C is friendly to every Tom, Dick, and Harry. Person C is nice, she buys little gifts for the others; she speaks in a nice tone; she shows concern; she portrays helplessness at the right time; she always say the right thing at the right time. A second look will reveal that everyone currently or newly employed in the company talks to Person C and they are friends, they even share secrets about the rumours in the office. A third look reveals that no one really talks to Person A who is always the last to know about the office happenings and does not know about what is on the grapevine. Now, ask yourself "who is the person playing favouritism and social control?".
So, in office politics, the first strike is important. The first strike in this case mean be the first to accuse a colleague of favouritism (aka. inclination, discrimination, cronyism) or social control (or any other rumour that you want).
In the thesaurus, Favouritism is an inclination to favor some person or group; Social Control is control exerted (actively or passively) by group action.
To make the first strike you will have to be a hypocrite, hide your true feelings, and make sure you are friends with everyone.
Accuse another of an action for which you are guilty of and you will never be accused of the same because blind belief and fear has diverted the guilt to another.
"Appearances are not always what they seem".
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
A little something on Presentations
I thought about how I can convey my thoughts about presentations. You know, that nerve wrecking session that pre-sales personnel have to go through when assisting sales to try and clinch that deal. To present the product or services to the prospective client and hope that you are able to persuade the client to see and like what you are saying.
If successful, great!. If not, either way you learn something.
So, on April 1st, 2005, I came up with the following:
A presentation is but a performance bestowed,
The actualization demonstrated,
For which a monetary accolade is wished,
And personal improvement gained.
If successful, great!. If not, either way you learn something.
So, on April 1st, 2005, I came up with the following:
A presentation is but a performance bestowed,
The actualization demonstrated,
For which a monetary accolade is wished,
And personal improvement gained.
Harry Potter book of magic
I am not a poetic person but on June 21, 2003, two of my friends were so excited because the long wait is finally over and they can buy the next edition of the Harry Potter books. It is the culmination of years of excitement and waiting. To buy the book, they have to be at the bookstore early; to try their best to be in the first few hundred to be eligible for discounts or possibly gifts; to endure the Crowd, the thousands of people who are also there for the same purpose; the planning on which escalator to rush up when the mall is opened; which entrance to use as it is opened first.
Me? Well, yours truly did not go with them as the book is out of my range of things affordable but I share their excitement, that's what friends are for.. hehe. So, on that day, while they were at the bookstore I was at the market and as I was waiting for the seller to prepare the chicken, the texting started. They told me about the rushing, the frantic queues, the crowd, someone belched, and especially the girl queuing in front of them who farted and they couldn't move away without losing their place in the queue.
It was hilarious so in the 5 minutes of waiting, I came up with the following about their "quest" for the book and texted it back to them ...
Book of Magic,
Through war & blood, belch & fart,
In my hands lie your destiny,
Ages of years lead you to me,
and Forever you are mine ...
I am glad I wrote it because it brings back good memories. I hope my friends still enjoy it as much as I do when they read it.
Me? Well, yours truly did not go with them as the book is out of my range of things affordable but I share their excitement, that's what friends are for.. hehe. So, on that day, while they were at the bookstore I was at the market and as I was waiting for the seller to prepare the chicken, the texting started. They told me about the rushing, the frantic queues, the crowd, someone belched, and especially the girl queuing in front of them who farted and they couldn't move away without losing their place in the queue.
It was hilarious so in the 5 minutes of waiting, I came up with the following about their "quest" for the book and texted it back to them ...
Book of Magic,
Through war & blood, belch & fart,
In my hands lie your destiny,
Ages of years lead you to me,
and Forever you are mine ...
I am glad I wrote it because it brings back good memories. I hope my friends still enjoy it as much as I do when they read it.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Chapter 3 - Sensitivity
Two months has passed since Katherina made her first contact with Ellie. During that time Katherina set about in her plan to deceive Ellie into believing in her. It took some frequent casual meetings and cleverly placed conversations with Ellie, but Katherina can tell that she has successfully implanted the idea to Ellie. This was confirmed when they met the previous week.
During their casual conversation, Ellie revealed that she brought up the topic during a conversation with Deanne. She tried to convey to Deanne that there is a possibility that things could improve if only Deanne is more receptive to efforts by Katherina. The conversation ended with Ellie telling Deanne "Everyone to their own opinion" as Deanne knows that Katherina is not sincere. Ellie finds it hard to believe that Katherina is insincere especially since she has never heard Katherina utter a bad word about Deanne. Instead, she has only heard praises from Katherina about Deanne's work. On the other hand, during a private conversation Deanne confided in Ellie about her suspicions that Katherina is not truthful and playing office politics. Ellie wonders who is actually playing office politics.
Hearing that, Katherina knew that she has it made and Ellie believes Katherina rather than Deanne. That night itself, Katherina treated herself to a nice dinner as a reward for successfully placing Deanne in a bad light with Ellie. Deceit has always been something she is highly skilled in. She guessed correctly that Ellie will not discuss this with other parties. If Ellie discovers what Katherina said to Carol about Deanne she will know that Katherina said the direct opposite to Carol about Deanne's work. Although mostly fictitious, Katherina has only complaints about Deanne's work when she is with Carol, Kane, or Stephen.
Since her objective is achieved and Ellie's usefulness has reduced, Katherina has started to gradually reduce her casual conversations with Ellie. If Ellie ever ask, she will say that she is busy especially since everyone in her Sales Support team has resigned, with the exception of the clerk. It has turned into a useful excuse which she has over-utilised lately but everyone, including those in management, believes it willingly. With it, she has also delegated almost all of her work to other parties. She ensures that she has "heart-to-heart" conversations with the other parties and show disguised concern about the delegated work to maintain false involvement thereby ensuring that credit for work done goes to her.
Unfortunately for Katherina, a new project started in GBourse that needed web programmers so Jean and Jerry were both assigned to the project. Since GBourse is in the Top 5 Customers for SRIMOF, they were contracted to the project for the next six months. Their absence has created a void in her pool of rumour mongers in the office which resulted in lesser backstabbing for Deanne.
"Hi Katherina, can I have a few minutes of your time?", asked Deanne. "Oh yes, of course, my dear", says Katherina surprised by Deanne's presence. "Please don't take this wrongly, I would like to talk to you about my team". "Oh, what about your team?", says Katherina in a nice voice. "Well, they have asked me to talk to you because lately when I assign tasks to them, they feel pressured as they also have to complete the tasks you asked them to do.", says Deanne. "I was not aware that they were getting tasks from you directly so my dateline to them does not provide time for the tasks you gave them. They told me when I gave them their assignments this morning.", Deanne continues.
"I don't believe that, they will not complain about that.", Katherina retorted feeling insulted. "Oh, please don't misunderstand, I am not telling you not to give them work, I am asking you to please inform me too so that I can cater for it when I assign tasks to them.", says Deanne. "Well, the President of the company told me that I can approach anyone and ask them to do work without having to ask their superior.", says Katherina in a nice voice while disguising her anger. "That's not what I mean, my team did not complain, they just ask me to discuss with you about it. You can ask them to do work for you but please keep me in the picture so that I won't overload them. That's all that I am asking.", says Deanne. "I don't believe your team members said that and anyways the President gave me the all-clear.", repeated Katherina, feeling indignant that a measly executive could approach her and talk to her about such matters. "I will talk to your team members about it.", says Katherina firmly. Seeing Katherina's refusal to listen to her Deanne decided not to pursue the matter and said "Well, thank you for your time, Katherina, please keep me in the picture. Thanks.". "Hmmph", Katherina responded. "Have a nice day", says Deanne and left Katherina's office.
"How dare she! I have never felt so insulted. Saying such things to me, someone needs to tell her that she is just an executive. I am a manager, I have every right to tell anyone in this office to do work for me. Who does she think she is. Well, this will not be the end of it. I am going to complain against her to Kane and I will continue to give work to her team members. Hmmph!", Katherina thinks to herself seething with anger. "Kane will hear about this and I will make her pay for this but I will only complain tomorrow. I need to think about what to say before telling Kane.", Katherina thought as she console herself.
During their casual conversation, Ellie revealed that she brought up the topic during a conversation with Deanne. She tried to convey to Deanne that there is a possibility that things could improve if only Deanne is more receptive to efforts by Katherina. The conversation ended with Ellie telling Deanne "Everyone to their own opinion" as Deanne knows that Katherina is not sincere. Ellie finds it hard to believe that Katherina is insincere especially since she has never heard Katherina utter a bad word about Deanne. Instead, she has only heard praises from Katherina about Deanne's work. On the other hand, during a private conversation Deanne confided in Ellie about her suspicions that Katherina is not truthful and playing office politics. Ellie wonders who is actually playing office politics.
Hearing that, Katherina knew that she has it made and Ellie believes Katherina rather than Deanne. That night itself, Katherina treated herself to a nice dinner as a reward for successfully placing Deanne in a bad light with Ellie. Deceit has always been something she is highly skilled in. She guessed correctly that Ellie will not discuss this with other parties. If Ellie discovers what Katherina said to Carol about Deanne she will know that Katherina said the direct opposite to Carol about Deanne's work. Although mostly fictitious, Katherina has only complaints about Deanne's work when she is with Carol, Kane, or Stephen.
Since her objective is achieved and Ellie's usefulness has reduced, Katherina has started to gradually reduce her casual conversations with Ellie. If Ellie ever ask, she will say that she is busy especially since everyone in her Sales Support team has resigned, with the exception of the clerk. It has turned into a useful excuse which she has over-utilised lately but everyone, including those in management, believes it willingly. With it, she has also delegated almost all of her work to other parties. She ensures that she has "heart-to-heart" conversations with the other parties and show disguised concern about the delegated work to maintain false involvement thereby ensuring that credit for work done goes to her.
Unfortunately for Katherina, a new project started in GBourse that needed web programmers so Jean and Jerry were both assigned to the project. Since GBourse is in the Top 5 Customers for SRIMOF, they were contracted to the project for the next six months. Their absence has created a void in her pool of rumour mongers in the office which resulted in lesser backstabbing for Deanne.
"Hi Katherina, can I have a few minutes of your time?", asked Deanne. "Oh yes, of course, my dear", says Katherina surprised by Deanne's presence. "Please don't take this wrongly, I would like to talk to you about my team". "Oh, what about your team?", says Katherina in a nice voice. "Well, they have asked me to talk to you because lately when I assign tasks to them, they feel pressured as they also have to complete the tasks you asked them to do.", says Deanne. "I was not aware that they were getting tasks from you directly so my dateline to them does not provide time for the tasks you gave them. They told me when I gave them their assignments this morning.", Deanne continues.
"I don't believe that, they will not complain about that.", Katherina retorted feeling insulted. "Oh, please don't misunderstand, I am not telling you not to give them work, I am asking you to please inform me too so that I can cater for it when I assign tasks to them.", says Deanne. "Well, the President of the company told me that I can approach anyone and ask them to do work without having to ask their superior.", says Katherina in a nice voice while disguising her anger. "That's not what I mean, my team did not complain, they just ask me to discuss with you about it. You can ask them to do work for you but please keep me in the picture so that I won't overload them. That's all that I am asking.", says Deanne. "I don't believe your team members said that and anyways the President gave me the all-clear.", repeated Katherina, feeling indignant that a measly executive could approach her and talk to her about such matters. "I will talk to your team members about it.", says Katherina firmly. Seeing Katherina's refusal to listen to her Deanne decided not to pursue the matter and said "Well, thank you for your time, Katherina, please keep me in the picture. Thanks.". "Hmmph", Katherina responded. "Have a nice day", says Deanne and left Katherina's office.
"How dare she! I have never felt so insulted. Saying such things to me, someone needs to tell her that she is just an executive. I am a manager, I have every right to tell anyone in this office to do work for me. Who does she think she is. Well, this will not be the end of it. I am going to complain against her to Kane and I will continue to give work to her team members. Hmmph!", Katherina thinks to herself seething with anger. "Kane will hear about this and I will make her pay for this but I will only complain tomorrow. I need to think about what to say before telling Kane.", Katherina thought as she console herself.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Chapter 2 - What a web we weave..
"Huh?, What is it about?", was all that Deanne could say as Kane's remarks caught her by surprise. "The company does not appreciate shirkers, and you are one of them. Being a senior does not mean that you delegate all your work to your subordinates. You must take responsibility for your work.", Kane continues.
"Kane, you need to elaborate more because I do not know why you say that I am a shirker. I am not a shirker and I would like to know why it is being portrayed as so." says Deanne.
"You know what happened, I don't need to tell you. You are a senior staff, I expect more from you, especially when it comes to work responsibilities and delegation.". "I will not tell you what the complaint is about because I have to keep my word to the complainant to keep their identity secret. I will not have you approaching the complainant about it.", says Kane as he continues with the rebuke.
"Without further elaboration, I won't know what it is about and will not be able to give you a clearer picture and I won't be able to tell you my side of the story", says Deanne. "I don't need to hear it, you just need to know that you need to improve your work!", says Kane. "You are a senior staff and you should take this as constructive critism and improve yourself." he continues.
"You should allow me to defend myself against these accusations or if you feel that I am in the wrong then you should tell me the circumstances so that I can see and understand what it is about.", says Deanne. "I am not going to repeat myself and I will not tell you what the complaint is. Just know that you are a senior staff and you are shirking from your responsibilities so you need to change that. Being a senior staff does not mean pushing the job to the junior staff while you just sit back and relax. Remember that I don't like getting complaints.", says Kane.
Katherina was walking back to her office as the conversation in Kane's office continues. Katherina is the Sales Support Manager. Her department offers support services to the Sales team on the technical aspects of their opportunities, and it includes helping the Sales team prepare for presentations and proposals. Her office is located next to Kane's. Although Kane is the IT Manager, their offices is located on the same floor as the whole subsidiary occupies one whole floor of the building.
Katherina smiled to herself upon seeing Deanne in Kane's room. From Kane's expression, it looks like another complaint about Deanne was made. She congratulated herself for contributing towards it. Although Katherina has only joined the company recently, her years of experience has helped her tune and improve her natural skills at office politics. Knowing what to say in front of the correct people helps a lot. Doesn't matter that the few who knows the truth thinks she is a hypocrite because she is proud that these skills has helped her get what she wants.
She started using these skills on her first day of work at SRIMOF Services. Kane is the IT manager at SRIMOF but Katherina finds that she can handle him easily. Similarly, Peter the Business Manager at SRIMOF is also fooled by Katherina and the both of them believes whatever she says. She congratulated herself when she realise that Peter believed her without a doubt late into her second week of work there. It took a bit longer with Kane. It was easier with Peter because Peter likes to sweep things under the carpet and hope that they will go away.
Deanne though is a snag in her territorial plans in the office as Deanne could see through her act after the third week, so Deanne has to go. Luckily for Katherina, it is easy to build prejudice against Deanne because of Jeenie's gameplan. She can see that Jeenie is manipulative and is against Deanne because Deanne is aware of Jeenie's actual work capabilities and is therefore a risk to Jeenie. Jeenie reminds her of herself when she first started work after graduation.
It is unfortunate that she is a few years away from retirement, otherwise she can play career ladder climbing games instead of just territorial games to ensure that her place in the office is comfortable until her retirement.
Earlier that morning, Katherina met Nellie at the elevators and they had a good casual chat. Nellie is one of the Directors in the company and her words carry a lot of weight. Only a few weeks ago, Katherina mentioned to Nellie that Deanne was very rude and screamed at her. Immediately following that, Nellie sent an email to Kane about it. With some persuasion, Katherina was able to get Kane to keep quiet about it and not to mention it to Deanne. Kane listened to her and kept quiet about it which is what she wanted because if it is leaked out, Deanne would know that it is not true. Although Deanne is not a political player, a direct confrontation with her is too soon at this moment although Katherina has laid some good groundwork, especially with Nellie.
It took some late nights to get the opportunity to impress Nellie with her long working hours. Katherina made sure that she is around when she knows that Nellie will look for her. By doing that, Nellie failed to realise that Katherina were not in the office during the day and gets to the office in late afternoon so that she can stay late. Furthermore, the late nights allowed her private access to Nellie to gain her trust as the office is usually quite empty after office hours. Unfortunately Nellie does not deal directly with executive staff as she believes that it should be handled by the managers. Otherwise, Katherina would have been able to get Deanne into bigger trouble.
Katherina has realised from quite early in her working life that laying good groundwork is essential in politics because colleagues who are friends are usually "blind" towards a "common enemy" and will believe a "real" friend as she has been nice to them.
One of the ways to get a staff to resign is to make life miserable for that person in the office so Katherina started her plan by socializing and becoming friends with all the executive level staff, and at every right opportunity, she will share with them about how un-cooperative Deanne is and how difficult it is to work with Deanne. Being nice to a person earns a person trust easily and that is exactly what she has done with most of Deanne's colleagues. Some of them is starting to be influenced by Katherina.
Riding on this wave of success in deceit, Katherina has mentioned to them about how rude Deanne is and how Deanne had screamed at her. They just listened and took it as it is, although there is disbelief from some of them. The good thing about starting a rumour is that people listening will not repeat it but they will believe that there is a degree of truth to it. It is her words against Deanne's and since she is a manager, her words carry more weight.
"Hi Patricia, how can I help you?" asks Katherina as Patricia entered her office. "Good morning Katherina, Nellie has asked me to pass these reports to you. She asks you to give her your feedback by end of tomorrow." "Hmm.. Kane doesn't look very happy, wonder what's wrong..", Patricia remarks casually.
"I shouldn't say this but since we are friends rather than colleagues, I can share it with you. Someone made a complaint against Deanne but that doesn't surprise me since Deanne is not co-operative and not a team member." says Katherina. "Really? I didn't know that", replies Patricia showing interest in the conversation. "What did she do?".
"Let's not go into the details but it is because Deanne is not co-operating with the rest of the team. She withholds information and doesn't share it with her team. All she does is give work to the others and she doesn't do anything herself." says Katherina. "Please keep it to yourself, it won't be good if Human Resource hears about it."
"Ooohh, I heard Jeenie and the guys talk about it the other day. She is always giving work to Jeenie and pressuring her but Deanne herself is not doing any work. I didn't know that she is not co-operative and withholds information from her team. I wouldn't want to be in her team." says Patricia. "Yes, just please don't say I told you." saysKatherina. "Oh, don't worry I won't. You are a nice person and has always been nice to everyone, I won't get you into trouble." Patricia replies.
"Come to think of it, maybe we can get more information on Deanne from Ellie." says Patricia. "Ellie?, you mean Ellie the senior manager in the Corporate office? I didn't know Deanne knows Ellie..." says Katherina in surprise as this is news to her. "Oh yes, they have known each other for quite a while, I have seen Deanne going into Ellie's office quite a number of times. Plus, I have seen them chatting at other times. I also know that quite a number of colleagues share their work frustrations with Ellie as it is quite easy to chat with her." says Patricia. "Well, I got to go, Nellie could be looking for me, see you!" Patricia says as she leaves Katherina's office.
"Well, this is news to me.. I didn't know Deanne and Ellie are friends. Hmm.. I need to do something about that. This would require some thinking.." Katherina thinks quietly to herself. After a few minutes of contemplation, Katherina starts to smile silently as an idea comes to mind. Since Deanne and Ellie are friends, Deanne may have shared with Ellie about the words or rumours that Katherina has been spreading about Deanne. It was repeated back to Katherina that Deanne calls them "bad mouthing" and "back stabbing". Because of this, she cannot say anything bad about Deanne in front of Ellie so that Deanne will appear to be the one who is stabbing Katherina in the back. Ellie will then believe in Katherina instead of Deanne. It will also place doubts on their friendship as Ellie will start to doubt and disbelieve Deanne. Ellie may even change her good impression of Deanne and will think badly of Deanne.
Katherina will have to start making "friends" with Ellie and share with her the problems that Katherina is facing with Deanne. This time she will praise Deanne in front of Ellie. She will feign ignorance about Ellie and Deanne's friendship. She will also feign concern on Deanne's not being receptive to Katherina's efforts to help her. If she says something to the tune of "If Deanne is more receptive to my efforts, we can make things work.", it will put Deanne in a bad picture and Katherina in the good. She will also need to make it appear that Deanne is prejudiced against Katherina and is not helpful when it comes to work.
"Ha Ha Ha, I must be careful of what I say so that Ellie will not know that I am aware of their friendship. She will believe what I am saying and maybe I can make use of Ellie to gain more information on Deanne and also to help me "persuade" Deanne into believing me. I will say that Deanne is not receptive to my efforts. Whether Deanne is"persuaded" or not, at least I know I will have Ellie believing in me and I can make use of that. Am I devious good or what?" Katherina thinks as she smiles and praise herself quietly. "I have to start chatting and "sharing" with Ellie later today ...".
"Kane, you need to elaborate more because I do not know why you say that I am a shirker. I am not a shirker and I would like to know why it is being portrayed as so." says Deanne.
"You know what happened, I don't need to tell you. You are a senior staff, I expect more from you, especially when it comes to work responsibilities and delegation.". "I will not tell you what the complaint is about because I have to keep my word to the complainant to keep their identity secret. I will not have you approaching the complainant about it.", says Kane as he continues with the rebuke.
"Without further elaboration, I won't know what it is about and will not be able to give you a clearer picture and I won't be able to tell you my side of the story", says Deanne. "I don't need to hear it, you just need to know that you need to improve your work!", says Kane. "You are a senior staff and you should take this as constructive critism and improve yourself." he continues.
"You should allow me to defend myself against these accusations or if you feel that I am in the wrong then you should tell me the circumstances so that I can see and understand what it is about.", says Deanne. "I am not going to repeat myself and I will not tell you what the complaint is. Just know that you are a senior staff and you are shirking from your responsibilities so you need to change that. Being a senior staff does not mean pushing the job to the junior staff while you just sit back and relax. Remember that I don't like getting complaints.", says Kane.
Katherina was walking back to her office as the conversation in Kane's office continues. Katherina is the Sales Support Manager. Her department offers support services to the Sales team on the technical aspects of their opportunities, and it includes helping the Sales team prepare for presentations and proposals. Her office is located next to Kane's. Although Kane is the IT Manager, their offices is located on the same floor as the whole subsidiary occupies one whole floor of the building.
Katherina smiled to herself upon seeing Deanne in Kane's room. From Kane's expression, it looks like another complaint about Deanne was made. She congratulated herself for contributing towards it. Although Katherina has only joined the company recently, her years of experience has helped her tune and improve her natural skills at office politics. Knowing what to say in front of the correct people helps a lot. Doesn't matter that the few who knows the truth thinks she is a hypocrite because she is proud that these skills has helped her get what she wants.
She started using these skills on her first day of work at SRIMOF Services. Kane is the IT manager at SRIMOF but Katherina finds that she can handle him easily. Similarly, Peter the Business Manager at SRIMOF is also fooled by Katherina and the both of them believes whatever she says. She congratulated herself when she realise that Peter believed her without a doubt late into her second week of work there. It took a bit longer with Kane. It was easier with Peter because Peter likes to sweep things under the carpet and hope that they will go away.
Deanne though is a snag in her territorial plans in the office as Deanne could see through her act after the third week, so Deanne has to go. Luckily for Katherina, it is easy to build prejudice against Deanne because of Jeenie's gameplan. She can see that Jeenie is manipulative and is against Deanne because Deanne is aware of Jeenie's actual work capabilities and is therefore a risk to Jeenie. Jeenie reminds her of herself when she first started work after graduation.
It is unfortunate that she is a few years away from retirement, otherwise she can play career ladder climbing games instead of just territorial games to ensure that her place in the office is comfortable until her retirement.
Earlier that morning, Katherina met Nellie at the elevators and they had a good casual chat. Nellie is one of the Directors in the company and her words carry a lot of weight. Only a few weeks ago, Katherina mentioned to Nellie that Deanne was very rude and screamed at her. Immediately following that, Nellie sent an email to Kane about it. With some persuasion, Katherina was able to get Kane to keep quiet about it and not to mention it to Deanne. Kane listened to her and kept quiet about it which is what she wanted because if it is leaked out, Deanne would know that it is not true. Although Deanne is not a political player, a direct confrontation with her is too soon at this moment although Katherina has laid some good groundwork, especially with Nellie.
It took some late nights to get the opportunity to impress Nellie with her long working hours. Katherina made sure that she is around when she knows that Nellie will look for her. By doing that, Nellie failed to realise that Katherina were not in the office during the day and gets to the office in late afternoon so that she can stay late. Furthermore, the late nights allowed her private access to Nellie to gain her trust as the office is usually quite empty after office hours. Unfortunately Nellie does not deal directly with executive staff as she believes that it should be handled by the managers. Otherwise, Katherina would have been able to get Deanne into bigger trouble.
Katherina has realised from quite early in her working life that laying good groundwork is essential in politics because colleagues who are friends are usually "blind" towards a "common enemy" and will believe a "real" friend as she has been nice to them.
One of the ways to get a staff to resign is to make life miserable for that person in the office so Katherina started her plan by socializing and becoming friends with all the executive level staff, and at every right opportunity, she will share with them about how un-cooperative Deanne is and how difficult it is to work with Deanne. Being nice to a person earns a person trust easily and that is exactly what she has done with most of Deanne's colleagues. Some of them is starting to be influenced by Katherina.
Riding on this wave of success in deceit, Katherina has mentioned to them about how rude Deanne is and how Deanne had screamed at her. They just listened and took it as it is, although there is disbelief from some of them. The good thing about starting a rumour is that people listening will not repeat it but they will believe that there is a degree of truth to it. It is her words against Deanne's and since she is a manager, her words carry more weight.
"Hi Patricia, how can I help you?" asks Katherina as Patricia entered her office. "Good morning Katherina, Nellie has asked me to pass these reports to you. She asks you to give her your feedback by end of tomorrow." "Hmm.. Kane doesn't look very happy, wonder what's wrong..", Patricia remarks casually.
"I shouldn't say this but since we are friends rather than colleagues, I can share it with you. Someone made a complaint against Deanne but that doesn't surprise me since Deanne is not co-operative and not a team member." says Katherina. "Really? I didn't know that", replies Patricia showing interest in the conversation. "What did she do?".
"Let's not go into the details but it is because Deanne is not co-operating with the rest of the team. She withholds information and doesn't share it with her team. All she does is give work to the others and she doesn't do anything herself." says Katherina. "Please keep it to yourself, it won't be good if Human Resource hears about it."
"Ooohh, I heard Jeenie and the guys talk about it the other day. She is always giving work to Jeenie and pressuring her but Deanne herself is not doing any work. I didn't know that she is not co-operative and withholds information from her team. I wouldn't want to be in her team." says Patricia. "Yes, just please don't say I told you." saysKatherina. "Oh, don't worry I won't. You are a nice person and has always been nice to everyone, I won't get you into trouble." Patricia replies.
"Come to think of it, maybe we can get more information on Deanne from Ellie." says Patricia. "Ellie?, you mean Ellie the senior manager in the Corporate office? I didn't know Deanne knows Ellie..." says Katherina in surprise as this is news to her. "Oh yes, they have known each other for quite a while, I have seen Deanne going into Ellie's office quite a number of times. Plus, I have seen them chatting at other times. I also know that quite a number of colleagues share their work frustrations with Ellie as it is quite easy to chat with her." says Patricia. "Well, I got to go, Nellie could be looking for me, see you!" Patricia says as she leaves Katherina's office.
"Well, this is news to me.. I didn't know Deanne and Ellie are friends. Hmm.. I need to do something about that. This would require some thinking.." Katherina thinks quietly to herself. After a few minutes of contemplation, Katherina starts to smile silently as an idea comes to mind. Since Deanne and Ellie are friends, Deanne may have shared with Ellie about the words or rumours that Katherina has been spreading about Deanne. It was repeated back to Katherina that Deanne calls them "bad mouthing" and "back stabbing". Because of this, she cannot say anything bad about Deanne in front of Ellie so that Deanne will appear to be the one who is stabbing Katherina in the back. Ellie will then believe in Katherina instead of Deanne. It will also place doubts on their friendship as Ellie will start to doubt and disbelieve Deanne. Ellie may even change her good impression of Deanne and will think badly of Deanne.
Katherina will have to start making "friends" with Ellie and share with her the problems that Katherina is facing with Deanne. This time she will praise Deanne in front of Ellie. She will feign ignorance about Ellie and Deanne's friendship. She will also feign concern on Deanne's not being receptive to Katherina's efforts to help her. If she says something to the tune of "If Deanne is more receptive to my efforts, we can make things work.", it will put Deanne in a bad picture and Katherina in the good. She will also need to make it appear that Deanne is prejudiced against Katherina and is not helpful when it comes to work.
"Ha Ha Ha, I must be careful of what I say so that Ellie will not know that I am aware of their friendship. She will believe what I am saying and maybe I can make use of Ellie to gain more information on Deanne and also to help me "persuade" Deanne into believing me. I will say that Deanne is not receptive to my efforts. Whether Deanne is"persuaded" or not, at least I know I will have Ellie believing in me and I can make use of that. Am I devious good or what?" Katherina thinks as she smiles and praise herself quietly. "I have to start chatting and "sharing" with Ellie later today ...".
Monday, June 16, 2008
Chapter 1 - Jeenie's Morning
It was past due 8.30am that day and everyone was already at work for an hour when in waltzes Jeenie in her normal trait. As usual she reaches the office an hour late, it is a daily affair for her as she knows she has no worries about being late for work. She would be punctual but since she has played her office politics well, she doesn't need to. Her achievements in this is quite an accomplishment considering that she is an analyst programmer which is an executive level.
She goes to her cubicle and place her handbag in the drawer. Then she switches on the PC, her Yahoo Messenger and the MSN Messenger starts and logins automatically so she immediately scans for any offline messages. Seeing none, she moves on to her next task - make herself a cup of coffee at the pantry.
"Oops, I'll get it later", she says to herself as she spotted Nellie near the pantry so she makes a casual turn and goes back to her desk. She will get her coffee later since her office politics has not reached to the Director level yet. Nellie is a Director with the Company. Jeenie has only made inroads up to the manager level. Kane, the Department manager, will cover for her and ensure she gets her annual increment and bonus for work not done. "Ha ha ha, the fool Kane", she thinks to herself, "he thinks he is a good manager and that I am one of his best performing staff". "Men! they are so gullible when I turn on my damsel in distress act", she smiles to herself as she starts to surf the internet at her PC.
"Good morning Jeenie", says Kane. "Good morning, Kane", replied Jeenie nonchalantly."So, how is the Call Trace program coming along? Can you finish both the screen display and the maintenance programs by today?", asks Kane.
"Oh, I should be able to finish it today. I worked on it at home yesterday until 12:00am, it was tougher than I expected. I didn't get enough rest so I am a bit tired today but I will get it done. The Call Trace project was requested by the senior management and it is very important to me that we get it done on schedule. Furthermore, you are the project manager!", Jeenie replied while appearing serious. "Good, good, that's what I want to hear. I know I can count on you. Keep up the good work!", says Kane. Feeling very pleased with what he has just heard, Kane walked back to his office.
Time to call Jerry and Walter. Like Jeenie, they are both analyst programmers too. Jerry works in the same department while Walter is working with one of the subsidiaries. Just like Kane, she has Jerry and Walter under her spell too. Jerry is her favourite though, because she has him eating out of the palm of her hand and she can manipulate him in any way she wants. The same can be said for all the other guys she knows but Jerry is exceptionally gullible thereby making him obedient to her.
She dialed Jerry's extension number. "Hi Jerry, how are you? Are you very busy today?"
"Jeenie! Good morning. I am fine. How about you? Everything ok with you? Is Deanne bullying you again?"
"Yes, I was up until 12.00am yesterday working on the Call Trace maintenance program and she didn't show any appreciation at all this morning. Instead, she was very rude to me and said that I must finish both programs today. Could you please finish the Screen Display program for me by 5:00pm today? I would do it myself but the crazy woman gave me such a tight schedule and I have to complete the Call Tracker maintenance program by today too. Pleaseee..... ", Jeenie asks in a pleading tone.
"Oh, and please don't ask Deanne or mention it to her," Jeenie continues, "it will make things worse and I need my job".
"That bitch!", says Jerry with a raised voice. "Ok, ok, I will finish it for you by today. I don't know how you can stand her. How much more are you going to take from her? Never mind, don't you worry. We are behind you and we will help you. I will get started on it right away". Jeenie can hear the phone click on the other end as Jerry hangs up. "Hmmmm.. must remember to buy him a sandwich for breakfast tomorrow", Jeenie says to herself as an afterthought.
"Walter speaking". "Good morning Walter, Jeenie here" she continues, "Deanne is at it again, she shouted at me this morning and said that I must finish the Call Trace maintenance program by today. I know you are only half way through but could you please finish it by today. If not, Deanne will backstab me in front of Kane and it will affect my KPI and maybe my bonus. Please. I am so scared of her." says Jeenie in her pitiful almost-crying voice.
"Poor Jeenie. You must tell Kane about this." "No, no," Jeenie interrupts, "if I tell Kane then Deanne will make my life here more miserable than what it already is. Anyways, I have to finish the screen display program today so I will be very busy. Can you finish the maintenance program by today? Please." Jeenie pleads.
"Sure, you know I will help you." says Walter. "I will get it done and give it to you by end of today. Bye.".
"Hi, u there?" blinked the message on Jeenie's MSN Messenger. It was from Susie. "Of course" Jeenie quickly types in her reply. "Is Albert cute or what?" she continues typing. Jeenie and Susie proceeded to spend the next two hours talking about their night out the previous day. They had gone to the Caribbean Walk the night before and met some guys. The Caribbean Walk is a row of bars in the centre of town which is a hangout for singles.
Deanne was concentrating on updating her project schedule when her phone rang. "Deanne, please come into my office", Kane's voice was on the other end.
"Deanne, there has been a complaint about you from your co-workers", says Kane as soon as Deanne entered his office.
She goes to her cubicle and place her handbag in the drawer. Then she switches on the PC, her Yahoo Messenger and the MSN Messenger starts and logins automatically so she immediately scans for any offline messages. Seeing none, she moves on to her next task - make herself a cup of coffee at the pantry.
"Oops, I'll get it later", she says to herself as she spotted Nellie near the pantry so she makes a casual turn and goes back to her desk. She will get her coffee later since her office politics has not reached to the Director level yet. Nellie is a Director with the Company. Jeenie has only made inroads up to the manager level. Kane, the Department manager, will cover for her and ensure she gets her annual increment and bonus for work not done. "Ha ha ha, the fool Kane", she thinks to herself, "he thinks he is a good manager and that I am one of his best performing staff". "Men! they are so gullible when I turn on my damsel in distress act", she smiles to herself as she starts to surf the internet at her PC.
"Good morning Jeenie", says Kane. "Good morning, Kane", replied Jeenie nonchalantly."So, how is the Call Trace program coming along? Can you finish both the screen display and the maintenance programs by today?", asks Kane.
"Oh, I should be able to finish it today. I worked on it at home yesterday until 12:00am, it was tougher than I expected. I didn't get enough rest so I am a bit tired today but I will get it done. The Call Trace project was requested by the senior management and it is very important to me that we get it done on schedule. Furthermore, you are the project manager!", Jeenie replied while appearing serious. "Good, good, that's what I want to hear. I know I can count on you. Keep up the good work!", says Kane. Feeling very pleased with what he has just heard, Kane walked back to his office.
Time to call Jerry and Walter. Like Jeenie, they are both analyst programmers too. Jerry works in the same department while Walter is working with one of the subsidiaries. Just like Kane, she has Jerry and Walter under her spell too. Jerry is her favourite though, because she has him eating out of the palm of her hand and she can manipulate him in any way she wants. The same can be said for all the other guys she knows but Jerry is exceptionally gullible thereby making him obedient to her.
She dialed Jerry's extension number. "Hi Jerry, how are you? Are you very busy today?"
"Jeenie! Good morning. I am fine. How about you? Everything ok with you? Is Deanne bullying you again?"
"Yes, I was up until 12.00am yesterday working on the Call Trace maintenance program and she didn't show any appreciation at all this morning. Instead, she was very rude to me and said that I must finish both programs today. Could you please finish the Screen Display program for me by 5:00pm today? I would do it myself but the crazy woman gave me such a tight schedule and I have to complete the Call Tracker maintenance program by today too. Pleaseee..... ", Jeenie asks in a pleading tone.
"Oh, and please don't ask Deanne or mention it to her," Jeenie continues, "it will make things worse and I need my job".
"That bitch!", says Jerry with a raised voice. "Ok, ok, I will finish it for you by today. I don't know how you can stand her. How much more are you going to take from her? Never mind, don't you worry. We are behind you and we will help you. I will get started on it right away". Jeenie can hear the phone click on the other end as Jerry hangs up. "Hmmmm.. must remember to buy him a sandwich for breakfast tomorrow", Jeenie says to herself as an afterthought.
"Walter speaking". "Good morning Walter, Jeenie here" she continues, "Deanne is at it again, she shouted at me this morning and said that I must finish the Call Trace maintenance program by today. I know you are only half way through but could you please finish it by today. If not, Deanne will backstab me in front of Kane and it will affect my KPI and maybe my bonus. Please. I am so scared of her." says Jeenie in her pitiful almost-crying voice.
"Poor Jeenie. You must tell Kane about this." "No, no," Jeenie interrupts, "if I tell Kane then Deanne will make my life here more miserable than what it already is. Anyways, I have to finish the screen display program today so I will be very busy. Can you finish the maintenance program by today? Please." Jeenie pleads.
"Sure, you know I will help you." says Walter. "I will get it done and give it to you by end of today. Bye.".
"Hi, u there?" blinked the message on Jeenie's MSN Messenger. It was from Susie. "Of course" Jeenie quickly types in her reply. "Is Albert cute or what?" she continues typing. Jeenie and Susie proceeded to spend the next two hours talking about their night out the previous day. They had gone to the Caribbean Walk the night before and met some guys. The Caribbean Walk is a row of bars in the centre of town which is a hangout for singles.
Deanne was concentrating on updating her project schedule when her phone rang. "Deanne, please come into my office", Kane's voice was on the other end.
"Deanne, there has been a complaint about you from your co-workers", says Kane as soon as Deanne entered his office.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Fishes on a plate
The fishes in this picture is from the dessert dish when we had dinner at a chinese restaurant. These "fishes" are made of flour with mashed red beans for fillings. They actually taste quite good. The presentation of the dish is nothing spectacular as it is on a plain white plate.
I guess using a white plate does not distract a person's attention from the fishes. These fishes are hhmmm..... delicious.
Driving in Kuala Lumpur
Something inexplicable is happening on the highways in Kuala Lumpur. We seem to have moved from driving on the left side to the right side and now to the middle lane ... if there is such a rule. Lol.
What I am trying to say is that in Kuala Lumpur, the law says that the slow drives on the left lane and the fast on the right lane. However, since a few years ago, people started to drive slow on the left lane and the right lane. And now, the center lane too.
I have observed cars being driven at the same speed (about 60km an hour) on all 3 lanes while the speed limit is 90km an hour. The cars hogging the fast lane fail to realise that their act of selfishness is a possible cause of accident which may happen when other cars try to overtake them while avoiding the slower cars on the left and center lane. In fact, one such accident almost happened if not for the successful sudden braking and pick-up by the faster car.
It was once repeated to me that the attitude is "I paid the road tax too so I can drive where I want to" - yes, folks, another case of 'courtesy out the window'. Maybe there is a reason why the car is driving at a fast speed...?
Well... that does not explain the accident that almost happened (again, avoided because of the fast reaction of the faster car) when cars had to brake because someone decided to cross the highway.... yes..only onKuala Lumpur highways - people cross the highway to get to the other side. Why did the chicken cross the road??
What I am trying to say is that in Kuala Lumpur, the law says that the slow drives on the left lane and the fast on the right lane. However, since a few years ago, people started to drive slow on the left lane and the right lane. And now, the center lane too.
I have observed cars being driven at the same speed (about 60km an hour) on all 3 lanes while the speed limit is 90km an hour. The cars hogging the fast lane fail to realise that their act of selfishness is a possible cause of accident which may happen when other cars try to overtake them while avoiding the slower cars on the left and center lane. In fact, one such accident almost happened if not for the successful sudden braking and pick-up by the faster car.
It was once repeated to me that the attitude is "I paid the road tax too so I can drive where I want to" - yes, folks, another case of 'courtesy out the window'. Maybe there is a reason why the car is driving at a fast speed...?
Well... that does not explain the accident that almost happened (again, avoided because of the fast reaction of the faster car) when cars had to brake because someone decided to cross the highway.... yes..only onKuala Lumpur highways - people cross the highway to get to the other side. Why did the chicken cross the road??
Olympic Torch Relay 2008
Well, wrote this blog on April 21, 2008 when the Olympic torch relay is in Malaysia. The last time it was in this country was 44 years ago. One of my colleagues called it a "once-in-40-years-not-to-be-missed" event. Since our office overlook a portion of the torch relay route, we saw it from the office when itwent past. Someone came prepared and recorded it on her camera.
When looking down at it, we see people waving flags lining the route, noise, anticipation, police escort, vans, more anticipation, siren, police outriders, more homo sapiens, a flamed torch goes by, end of story. I guess a person has to be standing among the crowd to get the "olympic" feel.
After that, someone asked "what happens to the flame when it rains, won't it go out?". The answer - it is known that the flame will remain lighted even in the rain. Not later after that, as if to show us that it is true, it started to rain, and Yes, the flame did not go out.
The excitement among my colleagues died down and it is time to be ready for "going-home-late" as some roads are closed for the relay. Me? - I took the train today to avoid the traffic jam. Only disadvantage is having to walk in the rain.
When looking down at it, we see people waving flags lining the route, noise, anticipation, police escort, vans, more anticipation, siren, police outriders, more homo sapiens, a flamed torch goes by, end of story. I guess a person has to be standing among the crowd to get the "olympic" feel.
After that, someone asked "what happens to the flame when it rains, won't it go out?". The answer - it is known that the flame will remain lighted even in the rain. Not later after that, as if to show us that it is true, it started to rain, and Yes, the flame did not go out.
The excitement among my colleagues died down and it is time to be ready for "going-home-late" as some roads are closed for the relay. Me? - I took the train today to avoid the traffic jam. Only disadvantage is having to walk in the rain.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
A Photo Today
It's been a few days since my last blog. Since this is the first time I'm trying my hand at blogging, I am starting to find out how it all works. It is starting to get interesting and I am discovering new blogging features. :)
Today, I started adding pictures just to feel my way around. I only added one, it is a photo of a sunflower which I took in the garden at the back of my house. I was looking for other photos of flowers and food but they are still in my camera and has yet to be downloaded into my PC. Once they are downloaded, I will add some into this website so that I can share them with you.
Today, I started adding pictures just to feel my way around. I only added one, it is a photo of a sunflower which I took in the garden at the back of my house. I was looking for other photos of flowers and food but they are still in my camera and has yet to be downloaded into my PC. Once they are downloaded, I will add some into this website so that I can share them with you.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
TV, what else?
Nothing much happened today, as usual I watched TV. caught some episodes of "Spongebob Squarepants". It never occurred to me that I will like watching this cartoon. Until one day when I realised that it helps to watch it after being "numbed" by the back-stabbing and the office politics that is a daily event in the office. A respite, you would say.
In this cartoon, Spongebob's faithfulness to his work at Krabby Pattyis beyond comprehension except that he loves his work. The dedication he shows to his job is one of those inexplicable un-explained phenomenon. He doesn't care about his pay or money as long as he can continue working at Krabby Patty. As for Patrick, his dumbness and innocence makes you laugh. Squidward who wishes to be an artist but is a cashier. Mr. Krabs is crazy about money. Mrs. Puff who is always stressed by her ever-failing student, Spongebob. Plankton, owner of Chum Bucket, always trying to get Mr. Krabs' secret"Krabby Patty" formula to improve his own business. Sandy, the only air-breathing creature in Bikini Bottom and she is from Texas.
Sometimes, the stories told is reflective of real-life situations. They go through all kinds of episodes but there's one "luxury" that they have and that is never having to worry about money. Nowadays we keep getting re-runs so it has become less entertaining but it is a good show to watch (re-run or not) when you are tired and just want some laughs.
Besides that, I also caught another show called "Backdraft". It stars Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, and Rober De Niro. I have seen it before but I dont mind watching it again. It is about 2 brothers who are firemen and how one of their own firemen became an arsonist. After watching the show it makes a person wonder why people choose to be firemen. Because they want to save lives. It takes a lot of hard work to be one and it makes us respect what they do.
Almost time to catch the next show - Law & Order.
In this cartoon, Spongebob's faithfulness to his work at Krabby Pattyis beyond comprehension except that he loves his work. The dedication he shows to his job is one of those inexplicable un-explained phenomenon. He doesn't care about his pay or money as long as he can continue working at Krabby Patty. As for Patrick, his dumbness and innocence makes you laugh. Squidward who wishes to be an artist but is a cashier. Mr. Krabs is crazy about money. Mrs. Puff who is always stressed by her ever-failing student, Spongebob. Plankton, owner of Chum Bucket, always trying to get Mr. Krabs' secret"Krabby Patty" formula to improve his own business. Sandy, the only air-breathing creature in Bikini Bottom and she is from Texas.
Sometimes, the stories told is reflective of real-life situations. They go through all kinds of episodes but there's one "luxury" that they have and that is never having to worry about money. Nowadays we keep getting re-runs so it has become less entertaining but it is a good show to watch (re-run or not) when you are tired and just want some laughs.
Besides that, I also caught another show called "Backdraft". It stars Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, and Rober De Niro. I have seen it before but I dont mind watching it again. It is about 2 brothers who are firemen and how one of their own firemen became an arsonist. After watching the show it makes a person wonder why people choose to be firemen. Because they want to save lives. It takes a lot of hard work to be one and it makes us respect what they do.
Almost time to catch the next show - Law & Order.
Friday, April 11, 2008
A Train Ride, Commute?
I usually drive to and back from work but I had to take the train recently.The train was running late on that evening and the crowd at the station started to build up until it could fill up an entire basketballcourt.
When the train pulled into the station, everyone was eager to board it after the long wait. The rushing and pushing started the moment the train stopped and seconds before the doors open. I was able to get in and got a standing spot near the door. Once in the train,I saw two men giving up their seats to two older women. Bravo! Courtesy is still alive! albeit not all the time. Well, that's all the courtesy for the day, courtesy quota already filled for the day.
Thinking of a can of sardines? Yes, the condition inside the train is reminiscent of that. A man was standing next to me. He was listening to music via earphones attached to his Nokia mobile phone. It is a 'Nxx' model,definitely one of the newer models. The screen resolution and color is very clear and sharp. Cool phone. He was holding it in his hands and it was held at eyes' view. Cool mobile phone aside, I was hit by a sudden realization that like everyone else on the train, he is oblivious to people standing next to him.
At the next stop, the number of people alighting is lesser than those boarding. Everyone wants to get home so more "squeezing" to fill up the imaginary empty spaces. A man and a girl is standing in front of me now. The man was standing with the door, seriously, he had to keep his balance whenever the doors open. The girl was busy with her mobile phone without any breaks. It was a Sony Ericsson, but I could not see the phone very well due to the angle that she was holding it. She was texting, answering a call, texting again, and she did all this oblivious to a man's elbow which is in front of her as long as it does not get in the way of her texting. She did this standing on the same spot without having to hold onto any support railing. Maybe it is so packed that she cannot fall down anyway. When the train jerks she just lean on to the person next to her. Must be a seasoned train commuter... with lots of experience in her bag :)
When the train pulled into the station, everyone was eager to board it after the long wait. The rushing and pushing started the moment the train stopped and seconds before the doors open. I was able to get in and got a standing spot near the door. Once in the train,I saw two men giving up their seats to two older women. Bravo! Courtesy is still alive! albeit not all the time. Well, that's all the courtesy for the day, courtesy quota already filled for the day.
Thinking of a can of sardines? Yes, the condition inside the train is reminiscent of that. A man was standing next to me. He was listening to music via earphones attached to his Nokia mobile phone. It is a 'Nxx' model,definitely one of the newer models. The screen resolution and color is very clear and sharp. Cool phone. He was holding it in his hands and it was held at eyes' view. Cool mobile phone aside, I was hit by a sudden realization that like everyone else on the train, he is oblivious to people standing next to him.
At the next stop, the number of people alighting is lesser than those boarding. Everyone wants to get home so more "squeezing" to fill up the imaginary empty spaces. A man and a girl is standing in front of me now. The man was standing with the door, seriously, he had to keep his balance whenever the doors open. The girl was busy with her mobile phone without any breaks. It was a Sony Ericsson, but I could not see the phone very well due to the angle that she was holding it. She was texting, answering a call, texting again, and she did all this oblivious to a man's elbow which is in front of her as long as it does not get in the way of her texting. She did this standing on the same spot without having to hold onto any support railing. Maybe it is so packed that she cannot fall down anyway. When the train jerks she just lean on to the person next to her. Must be a seasoned train commuter... with lots of experience in her bag :)
My First Blog
It is April 11, 2008 today and this is my first blog.
I dont know where to start so I will start with an article I read in an afternoon newspaper.
This newspaper has a section where readers can write in about any complaints and the paper will get the relevant party to give their feedback on the complaint.
One of them is written by a lady who complains that a clamp was placed on the wheel of her husband's car. This happened at the building in which they are staying. It was clamped because her husband parked his car in a lot that is not their designated parking lot. She stated that her husband came back late after a drinking session and could not park the car properly in the designated lot because he was driving drunk. If he had parked at the designated lot, he may have damaged other cars parked nearby. Because of this, her husband should not be penalised for parking at the undesignated lot. She does not want to pay the fees to get the clamp taken off.
The building administration office replied with the explanation that the car was parked in a loading/unloading bay of the building. The clamp were taken off although she did not pay the fees.
The funny thing is that this lady admitted that her husband was driving drunk. If he was intoxicated to the extent that he could not park his car properly, why was he driving? Food for thought?
I dont know where to start so I will start with an article I read in an afternoon newspaper.
This newspaper has a section where readers can write in about any complaints and the paper will get the relevant party to give their feedback on the complaint.
One of them is written by a lady who complains that a clamp was placed on the wheel of her husband's car. This happened at the building in which they are staying. It was clamped because her husband parked his car in a lot that is not their designated parking lot. She stated that her husband came back late after a drinking session and could not park the car properly in the designated lot because he was driving drunk. If he had parked at the designated lot, he may have damaged other cars parked nearby. Because of this, her husband should not be penalised for parking at the undesignated lot. She does not want to pay the fees to get the clamp taken off.
The building administration office replied with the explanation that the car was parked in a loading/unloading bay of the building. The clamp were taken off although she did not pay the fees.
The funny thing is that this lady admitted that her husband was driving drunk. If he was intoxicated to the extent that he could not park his car properly, why was he driving? Food for thought?
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