Hot Spicy!

It's been a week now since I started work at the office job. If you were wondering why it's such a big deal to me, I haven't worked in an office and for someone else for 5 years. I've still got my own little business running but I don't need to attend to it day in, day out. 99% of the time, I'm at home sitting on my ass anyway. So, when opportunity knocked, I answered.

So yeh, it's been a week. It amazes me that businesses still don't use their own email addresses. I suppose companyname@streamyx.com or companyname@pd.jaring.net is still okay. I'd rather a business have name@companyname.com. I just think it's more professional and a better presentation. Here's my gripe: companyname@hotmail.com or companyname@yahoo.com is downright unforgivable. Even worse, I've sometimes been asked to email employees' private yahoo or hotmail email addresses.

Hullo out there...? Getting your own domain name and to have email forwarding isn't very expensive. A little investment here might go a long way.

Other gripes I have are, I have no idea how some of these people do sales. They don't carry themselves well, are unpolished and borderline just-plain-rude. Might as well move these Ah Pek people from the front into the back offices and production lines where such brusqueness can be used to better effect.

As an extra rant, here's something I would like to bitch about. An excel file is a book. It contains pages or worksheets. It's not just one damn page. There are tabs on the bottom of the pages. They scroll horizontally. I have stupid people ringing me up and almost getting into an argument with me. Look at the bottom of the pages for the tabs, you fucking morons. Not that you will anyway. When I explained this nicely, all I get is attitude and adamance. I've adapted though. One simple question makes my life so much easier.

"Are you familiar with Excel?!?"

Shuts them up. They all say the same thing.

"Let me have another look and I'll get back to you."

They never do. If ever someone does, I'd have to label him or her: Beyond Help and Recovery.

Someone else couldn't open the file. Doesn't have Microsoft Office. Had to resend as an email comprising text in an email message. Another company had no email address. How tragic is that? They aren't a RM1.00 company. Their product range is huge. They can supply most of the things I'm asking for. I had to fax over a shopping list of no less than 30 pages.

But it made my day. After all the bad mojo I had yesterday, it really made my day, especially since it was the last thing I did before leaving the office.

I was speaking to the sales person. Perhaps gently chiding her on her company's lack of email address. I made hrmmm hmmmp noises indicating my displeasure at such a failing. "Fax the whole shopping list? Hrrrmmm hmmmmp...." As a last resort, I asked her if I could email the list to her own personal email address. I could feel reluctance emanating through the phone. But it was kind of embarrassed reluctance. Finally she said I could.

Her email address?

name_chilipadi@name.com

I didn't start, pause nor flinch. Instead I asked, still very politely and formally, "Is that chili with one L or two?" She replied that it was with one L. Then I asked, "chilipadi as one word?" and I received a confirmation. The remainder of the conversation was polite, amiable and professional. Then I hung up the phone.

That's when I cracked up.

Giggled my ass off.

It made my day. It was therapy!