Interesting day...;p

So, here I am, in early Clearing in our new office. Yes, we moved out from our nice cosy office on the Southwood Site and have come across the park to Mansion Site. We are now in the computer labs on the ground floor by reception so there is not too far to walk when we come in every morning.

Monday was supposed to be a good day. We were in our new “office” with new phones (that none of us had even seen or learnt how to use ((yes they are complicated and are operated by not ever touching them!) until sometime last week). Anywhose, 8:58am rolled on and we were ready to take calls. We had been promised a lot of them with our new telecoms system.

8:59 The anticipation was rising. There was tension in the air. Tension that you cut with a knife!

9:00 Nothing!

9:01 Nothing!

9:05 Still ... Nothing!

9:10 we resigned ourselves to the fact that the phones were just not going to ring!!

9:11 a state of emergency was declared in the Office. The new phones which we so hoped would make life easier for us (eventually after we got used to using them) had let us down! There was a sudden scramble for the old phones that had done us so well in the past. New Technology FC was losing 1-0 to Old Telecom United and I can’t say I was disappointed. I actually like the old phones; they are clear and easy to use. When you pressed the ‘hold’ button, that’s exactly what it did. When you needed to transfer a call you pressed ‘transfer’. Simples!!

Unfortunately, there seems to be a bug in the system whereby calls to our dedicated line are seemingly not getting through. It’s a good thing we still have our old number still live and there is always the switchboard (Thank god for them) or it would have been an incredibly boring day.

So ... that brings us to today. We are still here and doing the good work of trying to get people into university. I have spent most of my morning doing some real grafting, moving boxes to our new break room. This proved to be more difficult than I originally imagined. The room is actually almost right next door to the office, but there is no direct ramp access so I had to walk all around the campus looking for a way in. This in itself was not easy. The reason being that we have living on our campuses a number of what can only be described as the rudest, ill-mannered children in the world. It is not just my opinion that these bunch are rude. It is clearly evident by their behaviour.

During the lunch period, while the rest of us normal people form an orderly queue to pay for our items at the shop, this lot feel it is acceptable for them to simply push in. Now, I know that we as the English have this pre-conceived reputation of being polite and well mannered, but that depends on everyone else (visitors) being compliant with our social etiquette. Now, if someone is in a bit of a hurry, and they actually ask me if they can go ahead of me in the queue, then nine times out of ten, I won’t actually mind, but NOOOOOO! This lot just shove in.

First day it happened I ignored it, did the same on the second day but when they tried to push in on the third day I felt morally obliged to remind them that they were in England where we queue up in an orderly fashion and wait to be called up by the next available cashier, not in their country where there might not be order or any such thing as manners! Anyways I feel this going down a path I have already been down (see my blog from October 2010 – “Stand On The Right”)