Friday, August 14, 2009

Giving a word or commitment...

We were to arrange for a small get together for about 30 people. Since we did not want to do it home, we were looking for a mini hall that can hold 30 to 40 people and good food. I requested two of my friends to take care of this requirement. Whenever I asked them about the hall, they told me that I do not have to worry about it at all. Just a week before the get together, I wanted to finalize the menu. There came the shock!!!! The hall was not booked. They had just inquired, not confirmed the booking, nor did they tell me about the constraint that the service providers (those in our neighborhood) are not ready to entertain less than 50 people. I had to do the hall searching and booking exercise all over again. Since it was a heavy demand day, it was pretty hard to get a hall.

This kept me thinking..... How many of us really respect the word we give others? How serious are we about the casual "Sure, shall come and visit you some time" at end of every friends' meeting? How many people call their friends or relatives as promised?

I am trying to understand why some of us take these "promises" seriously and others do not.

In the industry I was working in, whatever you commit counts irrespective of whether it was oral or written. But, in Government sector, only written communications are valued. You can say anything orally and get away with it. My friends are working in Government. Could this have caused this behavior or is that the way there were brought up? I'm not sure.

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