779 FedEx Daze
The problem isn't technology. Screw ups take place all the time. The problem is listening. Many don't. Think about this in your own life. Some of the people you speak with aren't listening. They're too busy thinking about what they're going to say next. Or they're off in another world, maybe thinking about baseball or internet porn or what they're having for dinner or the Great Issues of Life.
Pretty simple situation, you'd think, in an era of instantaneous and continuous communication. An eBay purchase is sent to a former address. You track the package and notice that. You call FedEx and ask them to re-route the thing and they say "sure," but they don't do anything. So you call back and you ask them why they haven't done anything and they say "when the package gets to its distribution center it'll be turned around." They don't make mid course corrections. Apparently they don't make end-course corrections, either.
So the package is on the truck for delivery to a former address, the one in Moote Point, NY instead of the right one, which is Mount Tantamount PA. Six calls later, including two from the guy who initially sent the thing, the Quality Assurance guy promises that it won't be delivered and that it will be "turned around," which makes one wonder what level of quality the Quality Assurance guy is assuring.
So this thing has bounced around the country (it's fragile,) and endured the cold of late fall in at least three states. And when it arrives at its REAL final destination, now allegedly scheduled for our days hence, you will receive a full report. Why would you want to? Well, if you've read this far into the posting, you probably want to know how it all turns out. You are not alone.
The problem isn't technology. Screw ups take place all the time. The problem is listening. Many don't. Think about this in your own life. Some of the people you speak with aren't listening. They're too busy thinking about what they're going to say next. Or they're off in another world, maybe thinking about baseball or internet porn or what they're having for dinner or the Great Issues of Life.
We're all guilty of that some of the time. But some people make it a central principle. Those are the ones you have to watch out for. and they're hard to spot.
For those who think the Postal Service or any other federal or federalized bureaucracy is messed up, you're right. But please note that the private bureaucracies are every bit as bad, and that technology doesn't help when people don't read messages all the way through and/or don't listen.
--The local CBS owned radio station in New York is very busy making sure we all are told that John Cameron Swayze, Jr., left his long standing gig voluntarily. The fairness doctrine still rules part of this space. So there's their side.
For those who think the Postal Service or any other federal or federalized bureaucracy is messed up, you're right. But please note that the private bureaucracies are every bit as bad, and that technology doesn't help when people don't read messages all the way through and/or don't listen.
Shrapnel:
----In an unrelated but similar situation, a guy I know, who lives in another state got a phone call the other day, which isn't exactly news. But he got it on my home telephone, and no one can figure out why, least of all, the two of us.
--Countdown to the publication of the Bush autoclave and scrubbing autobiography. Can't wait. Wonder if we'll ever know who really wrote it.
--The local CBS owned radio station in New York is very busy making sure we all are told that John Cameron Swayze, Jr., left his long standing gig voluntarily. The fairness doctrine still rules part of this space. So there's their side.
I'm Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you're welcome to them.®
©2010 WJR
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