For every person we meet, there will be lessons to learn.
Work was meant to start at 6am. Four of us arrived on time but there was only one man there. As we tried to contact the persons in charge, he said there will be no reception here unless we head 500m back for a Telstra signal or 2km for Optus and don't even bother trying Voda.
'A': In the history of the weekend possessions I did, they never started on time. Nobody starts on time. Why ask us to be here at 6.00 when there is nobody?!?!?
Junior 'B': Manager 'E' said we should get here at 6.00.
'A': I know it's scheduled for 6.00am but they normally start between 8-9am!!
Ok. So we waited till 6.30am. No sign of other humans. Got back into the car and drove 500m to make a phone call. The person in charge said she's caught up with other issues elsewhere, and she's 1.5 hours away! We couldn't start till she's here.
Finally, the persons in charge arrived at about 8.30am. We had a short briefing. It wasn't until 1 hour later that we got the ball rolling. How efficient was that?
The inspection involved a lot of photo-taking, note-writing, and walking (with heavy safety boots, under the sun, 4 km, a bag of 2.0 litre water + site drawing + packed lunch + miscellaneous items)
The sun gave way to rain at 4pm. We stopped work and headed back to where we started.
Back at the start up point before heading back to the hotel, 'A' started whining about the weather and how it might hamper the progress of the work on Sunday as it was forecast to rain as well. "It won't be accurate, the photos will be blur, we won't be able to write in the rain, we can't see clearly.....blablabla." I was too tired to take part in the conversation.
At the hotel, she repeated the same thing to another group of 4 colleagues. OK. I'm exhausted and sleepy, I need a break from this repeated topic. Grrrrrrrrrrr.
The next morning, true enough it rained. She repeated the same thing in the car. "It won't be accurate, the photos will be blur, we won't be able to write in the rain, we can't see clearly.....blablabla."
T_T
Worst of all, these words have been repeated so many times in front of two juniors and they took her words for REAL without justifying if what she said were right. Then Junior 'B' met the client's representative, 'C' on site and repeated, "It won't be accurate, the photos will be blur, we won't be able to write in the rain, we can't see clearly.....blablabla."
'C' was a blur guy himself as he doesn't know what was our job scope. He was only told to be there on standby for arising issues (if any). He then called his boss 'D' and told him the same thing. "They say their results won't be accurate, the photos will be bad, the notebook will be wet, they won't bother writing any notes......blablabla."
After 'A' left the meetup point to start work and while the 2nd and 3rd teams were getting ready to start, Boss 'D' arrived and told Team 2 and 3 to stop. He had a go on us and Junior 'B' defended the 'fact' that It won't be accurate, the photos will be blur, we won't be able to write in the rain, we can't see clearly.....blablabla. He insisted that we hold an umbrella so that we have no excuse not to write down notes. Hello, it's 8.00am, can we start work already???
Not long after, Manager 'E' (working on another site nearby) called up Junior 'B'.
Manager 'E': Did you tell Boss 'D' that we can't do a great job due to the rain?
Junior 'B': It's raining and it's the truth. "It won't be accurate, the photos will be blur, we won't be able to write in the rain, we can't see clearly.....blablabla."
Manager 'E': Yes I know it's raining, we have the same rain on this site as well but we still have to get the inspection done and we shouldn't be telling the client that we can't do a great job due to the rain.
Junior 'B': zzzzzzz
...................................................Inspection was completed at 2.30pm................................................
While everyone used the toilet one last time before heading back to Sydney, 'A' decided that the site toilet was too dirty to her standard. So the decision was to head 16 km away from Sydney to the nearest Lithgow Maccas for toilet and lunch. What the? Has site toilet ever been clean? I was so exhausted that I wouldn't even bother about lunch. I was left with no option.
Once we got into the car, Junior 'B' repeated the phone conversation to 'A'.
OMG.....get me outta here!!!
'B': Maybe because 'E' is sick that's why he talked the way he did?
'A': He shouldn't even come on site in the first place if he was sick...
And the whining and complaining went on and on and on................
What I observed from this memorable weekend shift:
- When people are tired mentally, physically, or/and emotionally, they forget to practise compassion and they speak irresponsibly. I'll remember to speak mindfully when I'm in this state of mind. And take it less lightly when others speak to me in this state of mind.
- Adapt to any environment we are in rather than insisting of having the same luxury while out in a bush where Telstra is unstable, Optus is dying, and Voda is dead.
- The same complaint repeated one too many times becomes a burden for the ears.
- Words need to be filtered differently when talking to different people because the level of understanding and justification skills vary between people. Like how 'A' complained to the inexperienced 'B', 'B' told the uninformed 'C', 'C' told 'D', 'D' told the sick 'E', then the shocked 'E' called 'B', and 'B' complained back to 'A' and 'A' back to 'B'. If only they all know when and what to filter...
- Efficiency is important. Use the least resources to complete the same task. Hello?? Travel 16 km opposite to Sydney to use a toilet, burn unnecessary fuel and waste of time, this is zero efficiency.
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