Tuesday, March 31, 2009

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.


.



30 comments:

ferret said...

gold!!!
and i loved the post :)

Masood said...

Lovely post :)
Simple yet important moral.

Unknown said...

Sweet post.. I am happy you posted it..sometimes u feel so good about certain people..I guess Tina was one... Of course its always easy to get angry but difficult to be calm...:)

Unknown said...

Awesome!

mythalez said...

maybe next time, u could ask tina whether she will be willing to play badminton with you on sunday *wink wink* :p

The Furobiker said...

haha.. I bet back in India you couldn't have had this conversations in the next zillion years..

these firangs are tooo good and courteous when they are not acting snobbish

Neha said...

oh, i know! even just a few good words and a smile from any arbit stranger can brighten up a super crappy day!

santasizing...Fantasizing said...

awwwwwwwwwwwwwww...how sweet is that.....it just happens at times:)talking to some arbit stranger makes ur day:)...
loved it:)...such a simple talk...yet im sure it will always bring a smile to ur face:)

Shalini Gowrisankar said...

that was so simple but so sweet! Its people like these that make my day .. totally unexpected but turns out to be so nice :)

V said...

The last line was nice. Casual and easy going. I like.

Anonymous said...

Sweet post :-)
Is this Tina girl Indian? Just curious.

async said...

there are so many nasty people in this world that one such sweet gesture leaves a whole lot of positive impact on you. It was a motivation enough for you to take your time and post it.
And thank you for posting it. It sure has left a positive impact on the readers of your blog.

Revs said...

Kya mast bola bhai!!
Apun aapke saath fully agree karta hai!!
Ek chota sa smile, ek chota sa hi, good morning bohot difference create karne ke capable hai!!
I mean its such a simple thing to do.
Being nice!! but yet there are so few ppl who actually do it.
Apun bhi khunnas kha ke bohot time nasty hota hai par apun try kar rela hai change karne ke liye!! :)

Sanchit said...

bhai, yeh tina ka number to do....
apun shaadi mana lega... muhahaha

Richa said...

ah yes.. good post concurring to tht :D

but Tina-like ppl are rare :D

vineet said...

Are you sure this wasnt an April fool attempt?

Maybe you did have the booking, you ever cross checked, did u?

Maybe u do find it out on Sunday tht u dont have one and the entire plan is to make u miss Viv's game.....

vineet said...

Are you sure this wasnt an April fool attempt?

Maybe you did have the booking, you never cross checked, did u?

Maybe u do find it out on Sunday tht u dont have a booking and the entire plan is to make u miss Viv's game and urs too.....

Anonymous said...

so sweet!!! events like these reaffirm the belief that people are nice alwayz...

u just have to be NICE!!!!

Abhinav said...

Hey just blogrolled onto your blog .. reading thru the plot i got a feeling was this kinda April Fools story in advance :)

Well that's what we like best about Singapore isn't .. full service guaranteed. sometimes i call my bank after having a disastrous talk with ICICI fellas just to feel good :)

Sales promo calls in Singapore .. hmmm that's new.

Nice Blog!

Blue Bike said...

BHai!!!
seemes you removed the poll poast bhai!!!
Shows on my reader but not on this page :(

Revs said...

kya bhai!!
apun itne excitedly poll pe comment maarne ko aaya!! yahaan pe aake dekha to poll hi nahi hai??
:-|

Urv said...

Oyye! Poll vaapis kholo na!

Urv said...

What the heck! Comment moderation bhi aa gaya! Vishwas naam ki cheez hi nahi rahi hai :P

Sayesha said...

#Ferret,
Thank you. :)

#Masood,
Thanks. :)

#chirpy-paaro,
Thanks. :)

#Sanket,
Thanks! :D

#Mythalez,
I would not do that. Familiarity breeds contempt. :P

#Abhishek,
Arre yaar! Post ka moral nahin padha? Be nice. :)

#Neha,
:)

#Santa Fanta,
Thank you. :)
PS: Tera nickname bahut lamba hai yaar... type karte karte haath mein dard ho jata hai! :P

#Shalini,
Long time no see! :) Thanks for popping by. :)

#V,
Thanks. :)

#ramya,
Naah... she's Singaporean. And Tina isn't even her real name. :)

#async,
Thank you. :)

#Revathi,
//Apun bhi khunnas kha ke bohot time nasty hota hai par apun try kar rela hai change karne ke liye!! :)

Hehehe.. apun bhi. :P

#Sanchit,
Hahahahahaha! Abbe tu kis kis se shaadi karega re?? :D

#Richa,
:)

#vineet,
This happens a few weeks ago, way before April Fool's Day. It was only when I got her call recently that I thought of posting it. :)
PS: Itna suspicious kaiku? Be nice! :P

#wishes galore,
Yep! :)

#Abhinav,
//sometimes i call my bank after having a disastrous talk with ICICI fellas just to feel good :)

Hahahahaha! I'm too scared of talking to bankers... jeb mein phuti kaudi nahin, and they want to give you uranium card! :|

#Blue Bike,
Aao thakur! Long time! I was having some trouble with that post... the moderation thingie didn't work when I posted a dummy comment to check. :( So I removed it. I've put it back now, hope it works this time! :)

#Revathi,
Hehehehe... oopar padho. Directly oopar. :)

#Urv,
Poll khul gayi! :D

//What the heck! Comment moderation bhi aa gaya! Vishwas naam ki cheez hi nahi rahi hai :P

Oye dhakkan! Jab bhi poll aata hai, comment moderation saath aata hai! :D

Ketaki... said...

Hey I liked the post.. :)

Unknown said...

Hey..this was a great post.Seemingly commonplace and yet so profound. It was my first ever visit-one of my friends insisted that I check out your blog and I must say it made my day! I have been delving into the archives since reading this one..

Sanchit said...

@santosh...

welcome to the bar.. u cant leave it till u are drunk till the last drop from the archives... :)

venkatesh said...

Nice, it happens..

nice rehne ka aur masti karne ka :)

Thousif Raza said...

another post i liked very much, u are one hell of a writer, and thats just 2 posts i have read. good going girl ;)

take care and keep writing

makuchaku said...

Nice - pretty vivid post :)

--
Maku
http://makuchaku.in