I have encountered a number of individuals who seem to have difficulties listening to/hearing me lately. I do not know what it is and it is getting damn frustrating. My patience is wearing a little thin. I speak very slow (trust me on this one) and I find multiple ways to articulate myself in simple words. However, there is a massive comprehension barrier. I will give you two recent examples:
1. Take Away. Take Away is a quick, tasty and cheap Arabic restaurant. I particularly fancy Take Away's chicken shawarma (sort of like chicken fajita) and french fries. Anyway, the past three times I have gone there they completely ignore my order - chicken shawarma, french fries and water - yet the people I go there with (I have yet to venture out of EC on my own) get their orders with no problems. I get nothing, not even my dang water. However, we all gave our order at the same time to usually the exact same person. So the next step is asking this person about my order, but he or she can never recollect taking my order every single time. It is like I do not even exist! My coworkers vow for me that I did order and then this person runs off saying my order is coming blah blah blah. But it never comes. So we ask again several minutes later. Again, you basically 'I do not know what you are talking about, but I will put an order in' blah blah blah. It is maddening. I am doing anything different than anyone else. Nothing. It is like they literally cannot hear the words coming out of my mouth or something (remember that line from Rush Hour...that is what it reminds me of...). It usually ends with me giving up. So last night my coworkers got dinner and I did not.
2. QTel. My mobile service provider. I signed up for their online service so I would not have to hassle with going to one of their kiosk stores each month to pay my bill. However, in order to sign up for this service, one has to go to their City Center store (this is the only store that allows customers to sign up online...go figure...). The boss man, Kevin, took me there a few weeks ago (same trip I got my shoe repaired) to A) create a mobile account and B) sign up to manage my account online. First of all, they did not even give me my mobile number when I created my account. I thought I would at least receive some paperwork at the end of our little meeting, but I got nothing...including not receiving my damn number! But he was on to the next customer before I could ask him what my number was. I tried to politely interrupt, but he shooed me away. But I was able to get my number by calling Kevin (thank goodness for caller ID). But the most frustrating aspect is that I also signed up for the ability to manage my account online. I was told I would receive my username and password via a text message in 30 minutes. 30 minutes passed and I got nothing. 24 hours passed and still nothing. Finally about three days later I get my username and password to access my account. However, my password includes a damn smiley face with a tongue sticking out. How the hell do you enter that into the password field? There is no happy face with tongue sticking out button. I tried typing in the keys on the keyboard that create this face and that did not work. I tried every combo possible! So persistent little me went to the QTel kiosk in Education City, but they told me they could not help me ('only prepaid! no postpaid!') and that I need to call QTel. So I call QTel. Twice. The first time, the woman thought I wanted internet service and hung up on me. The second time, I did all I could to explain my perdicament to another woman, but she could not comprehend the word 'happy face.' I have never got upset with a customer service person on the phone, but I almost lost it. I finally just insisted that she send me a new password. Not the same one. Brand new! I repeated this about five times hoping she would get it. But what did she do...she sends me a text message with the same damn password that does not fucking work! So I think my only option is risking my life by driving the mean streets of Doha and going back to QTel at City Center to work this out, but more than likely this shit will just persist. Frankly, I miss the crappy mobile service providers in the States... It is during times like this that I long for America.
That is all. I feel better venting a little. Life is good, but it can get extremely frustrating and taxing. If there was easy access to alcohol, I can see how a drinking problem could develop.
Also, congratulations Qatar! You have the highest per capita CO2 emissions in the world!
PS I apologize for my potty mouth, but I am super frustrated.
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