Specifically, I have been banking with HSBC since 2004 and have generally been happy with their service especially as compared with Malaysian banks….If you want to see real idiots at work try banking with Maybank….Unfortunately, my current employer forces me to use them for receipt of my monthly pay….My only experience with them was when I set up my account and I specifically indicated and even signed a form to the effect that I wanted the highest withdrawal rate possible as I move my paycheck as soon as it clears….Of course, this didn’t happen and I spent an entire morning screaming and shouting at sub-mental functionaries over the phone until finally I spoke to a vice-president who raised my limit.
Anyway, generally satisfied with HSBC, I was sadly surprised at something that happened….I had wanted to move a sum of money I had borrowed from my sister in law….She had banked it into my account last year and I wanted to transfer it back to her….I went in person to the main branch of HSBC and filled out a form to do this….The whole transaction was quick and uncomplicated….The woman who helped my wife and me seemed to know what she was doing.
The next day, my wife was in KL for the afternoon and received a call from HSBC….Apparently, I am not able to transfer that much money out my account at once and would need to find another way to transfer money….My wife’s initial question was why couldn’t you tell us this at the time and save us the trouble?....To that, the HSBC person (It was the same woman who had helped us the day before) had no answer and just kept repeating herself over and over again like a parrot looking for a cracker.
As I prepare for the Chinese New Year to end and for school to begin again, I am also thinking about the idiots I encounter every day (and by that I mean for the duration of my whole life not just the people I work with now).
It is my theory that there are the two main groups….
1.) THE AGGRESSIVE IDIOT – Someone who can’t help but force their stupidity on you and are also very argumentative….Sometimes they are just very old and bordering on senility….Other times they are living proof of the Peter Principle….It is better to avoid contact with them and go over their heads to the boss or principal….Arguing with an aggressive idiot is pointless and bad for the blood pressure as they tend to repeat the same old nonsense again and again.
2.) THE PASSIVE IDIOT – Someone who quietly goes about their incompetence despite what guidance they have received from a manager or coworker….This person has tunnelvision and is also completely unhelpful when asked for something such as a computer password or a question about paperwork….They will also try to dump their work on you….Laziness and stupidity go hand in hand….Potentially more dangerous than an aggressive idiot because sometimes they are not immediately recognizable….Sometimes, they will continue doing something wrong even if they know it is wrong….Once you have recognized the passive idiot, speak only to them when others are around as witnesses as they tend to give deliberately misleading and vague answers to routine questions.
I think despite the response of the HSBC idiot she is more of a passive idiot than an aggressive idiot as she just goes about her mundane existence….People like that are the human equivalent of blobs of jelly!
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