The events of today prove to me people really do not get it.

I had a client engage me in an argument today over a $32 shipping charge for a package that was sent out three days after the attack. Their instructions did say to ship it third party, but the facility doing the shipping was very close to the carnage, and made a clerical error in fulfilling the order.

I called the client, and stated that under normal circumstances their point would be valid. I asked them to give a break to the facility that made the error, considering the stress they were under at the time. The twenty something clerk refused to acknowledge the tragedy, repeating again and again that her client should not "pay" for the mistake.

I told this young lady that a mile and a half away there are 6,000 bodies or parts of bodies, that when I look out my window there is a constant reminder of the tragedy. All this automaton could think of was to "protect" her client at all costs.

For shame. I ended up calling her boss, who tried to justify her actions, but the boss eventually agreed with me. I was advised by this person that, regarding the same campaign, the computer facility that processes their data refused to waive certain fees associated with receiving data by e-mail.

Many suppliers were relegated to supplying the data by e-mail because no overnight carriers were flying. The account executives at Experian in Illinois (yes, the credit bureau) refused to waive fees associated with these e-mails.

So much for all americans pulling together.

I am astonished that the account executive did not go to the boss and suggest the fees be waived. I am astonished that this "american" thought the $75 was more important than understanding the circumstances.

People do not get it. They expect that business will proceed as usual. It will not.

My next post will explore how safety has been stolen.

-- Futureshock (gray@matter.think), October 03, 2001

Answers

"People do not get it. They expect that business will proceed as usual. It will not."

I very much agree.

For much of the country, the evidence of this atrocity was piped to them via images on the television. Now that the television has stopped the constant supply of images, the reality of it fades fast. You and the others in NYC and vicinity can still smell the horror of it (my condolences). It makes for a very different sense of what is real.

What these men did in NYC is certain to repeat itself. Once you have soldiers willing to attack as they did and kill as they did, it is only a matter of time before they strike again. The current record for civilian casualites of war in the USA in one day now stands at approximately 6,000. Our enemies will try to top that every time out.

I hope you have been in touch with Tarzan.

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), October 03, 2001.

Some of us still shed quiet tears when we see scenes of NY and realize the deeper implications of a world turned upside down by epic violence and madness.

-- Empathy (Empathy@Awareness.com), October 03, 2001.