Talk about possessiveness to me! I have two little girls – a daughter and a niece. Most of these tales about this topic does not amuse me as I have seen it all. But today, a friend recounted a tale about possessiveness in which adults acted more worse than kids.
As with all Mondays, hell broke out as soon as it stuck 9 am in the clock for my dear friend. In his official capacity, he interacts with two different departments – Dept A and Dept B. He takes requirements from Dept A and rolls out the requirements with the help of Dept B. Today morning, there was an issue raised by Dept A and in order to troubleshoot, he needed Dept B. In order to get all the key players on a common platform, my friend needed a bridge. For the uninitiated, I’m referring to a teleconference bridge.
Being Monday, Dept A had scheduled multiple calls and all the bridges were in use. Sensing trouble, my friend wanted to close this issue sooner before everyone get bogged on by other burning problems. So, he proactively called a person from Dept B.
My friend queried on the phone, “Do you have a bridge that we can use to discuss this issue?”.
To his surprise, the person at the end replied, “The issue was raised by Dept A. Why should I open my bridge? They should open their bridge!”.
My friend said an expletive under his breath. As soon as he took the lord’s name in vain, he regained composure. He pleaded again, “As everyone in Dept A are in other calls, I decided to ask you. Finally, don’t we all have to close this asap?”
After carefully considering my friend’s plea, the Dept B honcho continued, “If Dept A is not able to provide a bridge in 10 minutes, call me again. I will open my bridge”.
The telephone line was disconnected immediately after delivering this piece of advice. My dear friend exercised all restraint and spared the telephone from his wrath.
So, finally how do you think this issue got resolved? Well, the issue was not resolved! Within moments, everybody got caught up with other fires and worries about dousing them. As a result, this issue was forgotten. It may surface again in another couple of days. Till then, everyone can keep their bridges!
Picture Courtesy: http://www.untitledarchive.com
Tags: Musings,Possessiveness,Bridge
hahah, a bridge thats making more distances, in this case!
ReplyDeleteya Su is meaning- a bridge too far..hehe
ReplyDeleteBridges bridges everywhere, not a bridge to tread on!! :-)
ReplyDelete@Sujata, @Ramesh, @JD - You guys are coming up with better titles. I'm happy and thankful for your contributions. :)
ReplyDeleteThank god I no longer work, I would not know which bridge to cross and which one to burn.
ReplyDeleteWhat would corporate workplaces be without these attitudes? :-)
ReplyDelete@Aparna - You are lucky! Nice rejoinder!
ReplyDelete@Anil P - Thanks for dropping by. In fact, I have a friend who share the first name and initials of surname with you. I almost mistook you for him.
I agree with you these attitudes certainly add color to the corporate workplaces. Imagine the plight of someone who is sitting on fire and has to deal with these attitudes! It is enjoyable for us but terrible for him. :)