As one makes friends in the course of one's life, one's responsibility towards the extended family needs to be fulfilled as appropriate. Their expectations might not be expressed but they get amply evident when one, even inadvertently, misses out on something. I'd like to narrate an incident of this genre.
A couple of months back, a friend had asked me to get a reservation done for him in a long distance train. In the normal course of events, I'd have told the guy at the desk to note the request, in pencil, which would be inked and confirmed on receipt of a formal, written request which is mandatory for audit! And I should have told the individual to follow up accordingly.
Well, today, a very hurt RK - let me call him that - rang up to say that his name didn't figure in the final list and was at a loss as to what needed to be done because he'd to travel at all costs. Though he did not say anything to the effect, I could feel his 'you've let me down' during the empty chasm of conversation. His final plea of 'pse do something to retrieve the situation' still rings in my mind.
Though the situation was indeed retrieved and RK was able to travel, I'm still at a loss as to how and why the lapse had occurred on my part. My boys insist that the formal request had never reached us as records indicated. But I wouldn't like to wash off my lapse with bureaucratic alibis and so, the dilemma exists!
Yes, expectations are scary!
A couple of months back, a friend had asked me to get a reservation done for him in a long distance train. In the normal course of events, I'd have told the guy at the desk to note the request, in pencil, which would be inked and confirmed on receipt of a formal, written request which is mandatory for audit! And I should have told the individual to follow up accordingly.
Well, today, a very hurt RK - let me call him that - rang up to say that his name didn't figure in the final list and was at a loss as to what needed to be done because he'd to travel at all costs. Though he did not say anything to the effect, I could feel his 'you've let me down' during the empty chasm of conversation. His final plea of 'pse do something to retrieve the situation' still rings in my mind.
Though the situation was indeed retrieved and RK was able to travel, I'm still at a loss as to how and why the lapse had occurred on my part. My boys insist that the formal request had never reached us as records indicated. But I wouldn't like to wash off my lapse with bureaucratic alibis and so, the dilemma exists!
Yes, expectations are scary!
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