So, what about the song? Excerpts from the lyrics...
I'm sitting here in the boring room
It's just another rainy Sunday afternoon
I'm wasting my time
I got nothing to do
I'm hanging around
I'm waiting for you
But nothing ever happens and I wonder
I'm driving around in my car
I'm driving too fast
I'm driving too far
I'd like to change my point of view
I feel so lonely
I'm waiting for you
But nothing ever happens and I wonder
I wonder how
I wonder why
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky
And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree
I'm turning my head up and down
I'm turning turning turning turning turning around
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree
I'm sitting here
I miss the power
I'd like to go out taking a shower
But there's a heavy cloud inside my head
I feel so tired
Put myself into bed
Well, nothing ever happens and I wonder
Isolation is not good for me
Isolation I don't want to sit on the lemon-tree
I'm steppin' around in the desert of joy
Baby anyhow I'll get another toy
And everything will happen and you wonder
I wonder how
I wonder why
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky
And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree
I'm turning my head up and down
I'm turning turning turning turning turning around
And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree
And I wonder, wonder
I wonder how
I wonder why
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky
And all that I can see, and all that I can see, and all that I can see
Is just a yellow lemon-tree
I'm bored... wasting my time... nothing to do... I miss the power... isolation is not good for me. Life is a lemon tree at the moment. Not good right?
I wonder how... I wonder why... yes, I always do. Why do people always stick to conventions? Why don't they get creative or they can't? And when you do think of something that breaks conventions you certainly and most definitely will get resistance. Why?
Example... Ayu applies for a job and gets hired. Part of the process is to give the employee an ID card and to do so you probably need a photo for it and also another photo for the employee's file. The convention is to have the employee provide you the photos. So, what do they do? They dig their 'archives' for something so they can save a few bucks... do you blame them? I certainly don't. If they find some then you end up with an outdated photo of the time before they lost their virginity and if they don't, then you get a new photo and they have to part with some cash. Which they don't have a lot.
The year is 2010.. but we stick to conventions of the year 1980. We'd rather waste a few days and maybe weeks while the employee provides us with a photo/s than to settle the issue on the spot. These days everyone has a camera... may not be a fancy ass camera but they all do. And let's face it... they just love the camera especially women... what's the term they use now? CAMWHORE? Yes.. there's a shitload of camwhores out there. Nothing wrong with that... I love camwhores as much as I love cibai. But that's not the point.
A decent camera costs less than RM500. A decent tripod for the purpose, less than RM100. Software to crop the picture? Free... heard of www.downloads.com? For under RM600 you have total control of everything. You have control of when you get the picture. You have control of the person's grooming, appearance and what not. You can have all of them in uniform so they look smart instead of their casual wear. And best of all, you can reprint anytime and resnap anytime. Like I said... total control.
Ayu still hasn't got her ID despite sending her photos in the first week she joined.
Next... another convention. Ayu tells me that she does not take reservations. If there is a call between 9:00am to 5:00pm they transfer the call to Reservations. Wow! They still have this department here! And after 5:00pm they ASK THE GUEST TO CALL BACK THE NEXT DAY. Yup.. THE GUEST CALLS BACK AND NOT THEM CALL THE GUEST. Only in Boleh land. When I heard this a few weeks back I knew something was wrong with this hotel and I had started to wonder how (remember the lyrics? I wonder how) this hotel ONLY managed to give a point value of approximately RM150 when from my observations they seem to be doing pretty well. There were only three distinct possibilities.
1. Low rates. Which I knew was not the case.
2. Overstaffed.
3. Misappropriation of funds
So, Ayu was relating how her GM had met with the FO staff for a chit-chat. Hmmm... sounds so familiar. Apparently, he then 'realised' that he only had 14 employees in his FO. This is what I am told... I dunno. According to Ayu he was surprised as he says he has a total workforce of 200 employees. Huh? 200 employees for a 282-room hotel? No wonder they have such low point value. Where I came from it was sub-150 employees for a 364-room hotel and we churned out a much superior product. Ummm... the superior product is not my evaluation... it is Ayu's.
Why do you need a reservations department? You have a large number of business from India and the Middle East. India is a few hours behind. So is the Middle East. Can't the FO handle this instead of asking the GUEST TO CALL BACK THE NEXT DAY?
Remember when I said that over here, YOU are doing them a favour by giving them business? This is exactly what I mean. They have no sense of urgency. Oops... I stand corrected. They do have a sense of urgency... when they need to take a shit and the shit is literally coming out of their bung hole and they have not figured out where the toilet is. That's urgency.
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