“I mean just what I said, Mr. Shikoko. This young lady had concerns that she believed you had
failed to address. So, she asked you questions that she wanted to know the answer to. You chose
to insult her, implying that she had no right nor reason to be here. She is doing her job. Just
because she has no computer training doesn’t make her questions invalid. She’s asking questions
you should be answering in your presentation. You shouldn’t assume everyone in your audience
is computer savvy. In fact, from what I’ve seen at other seminars so far today, I’d guess that less
than half of your audience understands even 50% of what you’re saying. Fortunately for this
young lady, I’m a C. I. T. and I have the paperwork to prove it. I can answer all of her questions.
I could probably tell you things about your system that you don’t know yourself; but, does the
rest of the audience have that luxury? Likely as not, they don’t. Those that don’t have a C. I. T.
are afraid to ask you the questions that I encouraged my companion to ask for herself. Now,
because of your arrogant and condescending attitude toward her, she is afraid to ask you any
Michael looked at Amanda and, once again in a voice loud enough to be heard by everyone
nearby, said, “Amanda, don’t worry about him. We’ll sit through the rest of his presentation since
we’re already signed up for it. However, I believe we’ll recommend to Mr. Blaidd to not
purchase this system.” Michael received a loud ovation from the audience.
After the seminar, Mr. Shikoko, caught Amanda and Michael before they got out the door. “Sir,”
he said. “Please accept my apologies for my attitude earlier. I’m not used to answering questions
of such a simple nature. It never occurred to me that there might be anyone in the audience that
wasn’t computer literate.”
Amanda looked at the floor as Michael replied in a calm, measured voice, “Maybe next time
you’ll think before being so insulting. My thought is that your customer service reps are just as
insulting and condescending. Mr. Blaidd, our company’s president, has a habit of firing CSRs
that are anything less than friendly, courteous, and professional. He says that just because
someone asks a simple question doesn’t mean they are simple-minded; it merely means they
don’t understand what they are asking about.”
