Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Franz Kafka: Airline CEO

I swear that the airline industry was invented by Franz Kafka. It's has the most surreal aspects of anything in the world. Let me take you through my whole textbook debacle.
As you may (or may not) have
read, I left my textbook on the flight back to MSP. I left a message with the airlines that night asking for help. So at 5 in the morning, they called me to tell me that I had the wrong number. They then gave me the correct number and wished me luck. Well, I'm one of those people that when I come out of sleep, I'm not going back. I get up and call the new number. I get a voicemail telling me that they don't open until 8 AM. Fine, I'll leave a message. I punch the number for the mailbox, and the message I hear is, "the mailbox is full. Have a nice day," then the tell-tale click of being disconnected. I called back every fifteen minutes and got the same routine. Finally, I decided I would wait until 8:30 AM, when someone would have to be there. I call, no one's there. The voicemail, however, is no longer full, so I left a message. Fast forward to 11:30 AM. The phone rings, and a woman asks for me. This is our conversation:
Woman: May I speak to Mr. Lee?
Me: Do you mean Leab?
Woman: May I speak to the person who called from this number?
Me: That's me.
Woman: We got your message. You called the wrong number. You need to call...(she proceeds to give me the number I called the night before.)
Me: I called them. They told me to call you.
Woman: Who did you talk to?
Me: John
Woman: John? John.....Oh, he's new. You have to call them back. Ok? Have a nice day...
Ok, armed with what this woman (her name was Debbie) told me, I called John back. Now the surrealism begins. I call, wait ten minutes, and then talk to John. He tells me:
John: Who said that? Debbie? She must not know the new protocols.
Me: New protocols?
John: Yeah, we changed things around here. Call her back and tell her... (he gives me a lengthy explanation).
Me: I don't want to keep going back and forth. Can you just transfer me?
John: No.
Me: Can I keep you on hold while I call on another line?
John: Sir, I'm very busy (in the background I swear I heard laughing).
Me: All right.
So I call Debbie back. I actually get through to her, and I explain to her what John told me. She tells me:
Debbie: He's wrong.
Me: Look, if you can't help me, and he can't help me, who can I talk to that will help me?
Debbie: Sorry sir, they're the ones who have to do it. You need to talk to Julio over there.
Now really angry, and laughing at the Kafkaesque situation here, I call John one more time. I ask for Julio. He tells me that Julio hasn't worked there in five months. FIVE MONTHS! Does no one over there talk to each other? Come on!
So, I gave up. I went to school yesterday and dropped another C-note on the textbook. Not happy about it (I'm essentially out 2 C-notes), but I need the book for class.
So, if you're reading this, and you sat on an AR320 in seat 8D and found a textbook. Let me know. I really would like it back so I can go down to NWA headquarters and brain the people in the two lost items departments.

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