An interesting thing happened the other day. I've been going nuts trying to track down some property managers in the Hartford area. I really didn't think this task would be a problem. I figured these companies would be plentiful, but they really are not. Or I just haven't been lucky in finding any. After submitting requests to a half dozen different companies I only had one get in touch with me. You would think I would have been thrilled and hired them on the spot. But I didn't.
When the guy first called me he left me a voice mail message. I listened to it no less than 6 times trying like crazy to understand what his name was. How was I going to call him back if I couldn't even come close to saying his name? But finally I got the courage to call without being able to say his name.
It was a difficult conversation of me not really being able to understand the guy. I hate to admit this, but my patience level of dealing with foreigners on the phone is very little . . . especially say when I need tech support for a product that I spent good money on, or a home utility that I pay dearly for. I guess I feel like I'm in the USA, why shouldn't I be able to talk to somebody that I can understand easily, in my own language. I know this not a good attitude and I should be more accepting. ESPECIALLY given the fact that I'm married to a foreigner. This was the big slap of reality for me. I had no patience in trying to understand this guy, I had feelings of "I can't deal with this on a long-term basis . . .there's no way I'm hiring this guy" and (this is the part that was really bad) I felt like I was making assumptions as to his professionalism or level of intelligence based on how he sounded.
That's when it really hit me. The realization of how hard Karlo has it, facing these prejudices every day. This is why he hates to talk on the phone and now I finally fully understand him. The guy is positively brilliant (WAIT A MINUTE - THAT NEEDS A FOOTNOTE . . . In what he does. In the highly specialize high-tech field that he is in, he is probably one of the smartest people in the world. We won't mention his level of common sense for this example.) Anyway, back to my story . . . he is a brilliant guy that gets treated like he's an idiot. I watch it happen in person all the time; in stores, in restaurants, just about anytime Karlo meets somebody for the first time. On the phone it has to be even harder. I really do feel for him and I hate myself for being one of those evil jerks that do this to people like him.
But I'm still not hiring that guy!
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