It was not surprising, but I stood in disbelief at the ineptitude within the Logistics Department of my company. First, an item that was supposed to be delivered to a client in Tokyo was misfiled. (Technically, that loss occurred in another department). The person who accomplished that is someone who loves watching online videos while at his desk, in addition to playing podcasts made by daytime talk-show hosts. Repeatedly scolded by his ineffective favoritism-biased manager, he continues those habits. Yet, whenever he makes errors, he cites a decade-old boxing injury. He claims that he gets distracted easily. So, why play videos while you're working? As you might guess, he is not apologetic; he merely wants to avoid getting blamed. Evidently, the priority is not the client.
While that mayhem occurred the actual Logistics team was puzzled by the frustrated Federal Express delivery man. Another in their long line of mistakes, they prepared duplicate--yet different--manifests. It took three of them (each in their mid-20s) to stare at the FedEx guy, while he got more exasperated. They didn't seem to care about delaying his route of pick-ups/deliveries... or that their item needed to arrive at the airport at a certain time today.
In fact, one of them--in true "Millennial" obnoxiousness--began yelling at him, "Stop talking to us like we're idiots! You have no right to speak to us like that! You're talking to us like we're children. Why don't you just take the packages and go!" It was funny that a fully-grown woman--who still lived rent-free with her parents (who made all of her meals for her, and packed her lunches)--disliked being talked to like a child. Not caring that the FedEx guy was upset because they failed to understand their flaws, she walked away and returned to her desk. This was the 23rd time that Logistics failed to be prepared for their own pre-scheduled FedEx pick-ups. Their manager did absolutely nothing and remained seated. I could not believe that I was standing in the corporate headquarters of a "supposedly prestigious" global company! Meanwhile, the FedEx guy could not leave without the correct manifest, and the other two employees (who worked here for the last 7 months) couldn't figure out their errors. Did they actually graduate college?
Their last colleague ignored everything, wearing earphones and focusing on her Instagram page. That was not surprising, since her manager permits her to arrive late, take hour-and-a-half lunchtimes, and "call out" so much that she already used up all of her vacation time. Yet, the young woman still intends to take a two-week vacation--even if its unpaid. I had not realized that the company policy allowed employees to take off as much time as they desired! It doesn't, but if the manager and HR personnel don't care, then that is what happens. To make it worse, that employee thinks that she is entitled "to live her life", at the expense of teammates who must do her work while she's absent.
After the FedEx guy left, the group resumed their criticism of Boston (which had begun before I arrived). Except for one reclusive man, none had ever been to Boston! They could not fathom why Bostonians are proud of their city, nor would they ever visit it. (It's probably a gain for Boston). Those people displayed a typical arrogance of know-it-all Americans... who are ignorant (yet carry handheld cellular devices with internet access--which has the potential to educate them). Next, they ridiculed the Boston accent but admired the muddled American/Italian accent from the "reality TV" show, Jersey Shore (that accent is an indication of stupidity being copied due to perceived popularity).
Nobody sought to fix their mistakes, make corrective procedures, or institute double-checking.
When the topic of the Tokyo client finally resurfaced, a young man had the audacity to say, "I don't care if the client gets his things. I hope he doesn't get them. This job sucks." Again, the manager did absolutely nothing. To make matters worse, the intern sitting amongst them is the daughter to our Human Resources director! Yet, she doesn't care either.
Such is the apathy, uncaring, and self-entitlement in America. Lewis and I (and our friends) see it more and more, with no end in sight.
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