i have been trying for over a week to borrow something from a school department, which would cost several hundred dollars to rent externally.
although the guy i spoke to initially was really nice and helpful, after he spoke with his superior, he came back and told me, "I don't think we'll be able to lend you the boards, because we may not have enough for our own use."
I asked him when he would know for certain, and he told me that his colleague would get back to me the next morning. I spent an anxious morning waiting, eventually calling the department in the late afternoon, only to find that not only was my contact on leave the entire week, but no one present knew anything about my request. wonderful.
so the next day, i personally went down to the department, intending to make abit of a commotion, and discover from a friendly admin person that my contact was due back in the office after lunch. okay... someone gave me wrong information.
so i go back again in the afternoon, and i find my contact back from lunch, and looking quite unhappy to see me. he is surprised that his colleague hasn't gotten back to me, ad tells me that he has no idea when his colleague will be around, and that he thinks she's on leave.
but the friendly admin person corrects him, and informs me that the colleague in question will return shortly. he asks me if i would like to call them back later, but i cannot wait, and so i request to wait in the department.
his colleague arrived shortly, and i spoke to her. this is what she said, in an apprehensive manner. "I don't think we can lend you the stuff, because our students might need to use it. Sometimes they last-minute need to use..."
sigh. reading between the lines and from her body language, she doesn't dare to lend me the stuff, for fear that she might get into trouble for it. but a friend of mine from the department assure me that there's usually alot of spares sitting around. and that if i had asked anyone else the department i probably would have gotten it.
so we're out about $400. it's too late to go back and request again, because i need it by the weekend.
it is so typically Singaporean! kia-see, basically. sigh... and that poor guy is just learning all these bad habits from that colleague. i feel like sending him an email to appeal to him not to be like that next time...
