Straight talk

So I am all set to go for my badminton session on saturday when my phone rings.

Unfamiliar number.

Oh no, not another bank calling to sell me their new plutonium card. I get a lot of them calling me during office hours and I’m usually able to avoid them because I don’t answer my mobile during office hours. Heh heh!

But for some strange reason, I answered. Thank goodness I did.

"Hi, is this Sayesha?"

"Yes?"

"Hi. You have a booking for a badminton court today, yes?"

"Yes, I'm about to leave now."

"I'm afraid there was a system error and it allowed you to book the court when it shouldn't have."

"Huh?"

"The courts are all booked out for an event today."

"But my booking went through successfully. And the payment did too."

"Yes, we know. We're sorry for the error."

This was the kind of situation where at about this point, I would be really irritated. Seriously, nothing comes between my badminton and me. Especially when I have to book weeks in advance to get that one slot.

But something was different. Well, basically someone had recently been extremely nasty to me and it felt horrible and I didn't want to transfer it to another person.

"Uh... okay..."

"So don't come today, okay?"

"Okay... but will I get a refund or another slot?"

"I'm afraid I can't give you a refund, but I can get you another slot."

"That would do, thanks."

Apun ko kya, I just want to play badminton yaar.

"Okay, I'll call you back soon to confirm the slot."

"Thanks. May I know your name, please?"

"Tina."

So I waited and I waited and I waited for Tina to call and she didn't.

On the verge of losing it, I decided to call her. I flipped open my phone and to my shock, my phone had been switched off. No charge. Holy crap. So I put it to charge and then I called the number using my landline.

"Hi, may I speak to Tina, please?"

"May I know who this is?"

"This is Sayesha. She'd just called me about a badminton court booking."

"I'll get her to call you back."

So I waited and I waited and I waited for Tina to call. She didn't. It was exactly the kind of thing people write to the newspapers to complain about.

Anyway, after a while I flipped open my phone again, and to my shock, I saw that it had gone on silent mode. (My phone does that sometimes, goes into silent mode when I put it to charge).

There was a missed call. From Tina. Holy crap again.

By this time, I reckon both of us were sufficiently irritated at each other.

So I called the number again.

"Hi, may I speak to Tina, please?"

"Hi, is this Sayesha? I'd just called you."

"Yes, I know. I missed your call. Sorry about that."

"No problem."

"So did you manage to get me another slot?"

"I have one on sunday. Is that fine?"

"No, sundays are not good." (Viv has cricket on sundays.)

"Okay, let me check and I'll call you back."

So the phone rang five minutes later and I literally flung myself at it.

"Hello, Tina??"

"Good morning, ma'am. I'm calling from Standard Chartered. I was wondering if you would be interested in our..."

AAARRGGHHHH.

"I'm sorry this is not a good time. Could you call me back later?"

"Sure, ma'am. When would be a good time?"

"Uhh... maybe on a weekday? During office hours?" (*evil grin*)

“Okay.”

The phone rang again.

“Hello, Sayesha?”

“Tina! Hiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!”

It was as if I'd suddenly bumped into a long lost friend.

“I’m sorry I only have the sunday slot. Is that okay?" She sounded really apologetic.

"Okay, I'll take it."

I don't even know what was happening. There was something really nice about her and I didn't feel angry at all.

"Thank you so much for your understanding, Sayesha."

"Thank you for letting me know about the cancellation, and for getting me another slot."

"Thank you for being so nice about this."

Okay, enough thanking already. We hung up. It was getting weird, us being so super nice to each other.

So today, during lunch, I see a missed call on my mobile. I call back.

"Hi, I got a missed call from this number."

"Hi, may I know who this is?"

"This is Sayesha."

"Oh Sayesha. Hold on, I'll transfer you to Tina."

Holy crap.

"Hi Sayesha!"

"Hi Tina! Are you going to cancel my booking for this weekend?" (yes, I ensured she could hear me smile.)

"Oh ha ha ha! No no! I just called to check if everything went okay on Sunday."

"Really? That's all?"

"Err... yes."

Wow. Who does that?

"Yeah, it was great, thank you very much."

"That's great. My event also went okay."

Oh no, I did not ask her about her event. How rude.

"That's great, Tina. About my booking this weekend... it's not cancelled I hope?"

"Oh no, not at all! Ha ha!"

"Thank you then!"

"Thank you again for being so understanding about that day. Have a good game!"

"Bye!"

"Bye!"

I was smiling after the call. I bet she was too.

I don't even know why I posted this whole thing. I just felt like it. Like these seemingly meaningless conversations with Tina had taught me a big lesson.

Just be nice yaar.


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