Of basic courtesy, smiles and service attitudes

Tried to leave Suntec after the match, but there were no cabs in sight. Most of the crowd who were there to watch the Ger-Swe match were all leaving around the same time. Most of them called for cabs so those that ever came were those wif the "On-call" signs.

CY has his own transport so he headed off much earlier b4 us. Then the 2 gals were next. At least they stay nearby so they were sharing a cab home. Finding no luck at hailing a cab outside Times Square, we walked over to Marina Mandarin hotel.

"Priority will be given to hotel guests who are heading to the airport" So said the sign at the head of the taxi queue.

Fair enough. they are paying customers and tourists to our country. They have a plane to catch so they shd be given the priority to jump queue ride the next cab that comes along. While we were in the queue, there was a couple of tourists ahead of us. Apparently the valet on duty was helping to hail a cab. Coz it was like abt 1.00am in the morning, there seemed to be very few taxis on the road (I wonder why?) and it took seemingly a long while b4 it reached our turn. So the valet was there, opening the cab doors for guests and helping to close for the next passengers aboard the cab. I guess it was just my luck that the valet's shift was up when it came to my turn, that he left his 'post' and disappeared into the hotel lobby. Not that I wanted any valet services, but it left me with a rather bad impression of double standard services provided by the service industry in Singapore. I was more convinced that the valet left his post when there was no replacement after what seemed like 15mins.

Still no cabs for the nex few minutes in the queue. Many who were waiting behind me actually called for the cabs, to which many cabs responded (to the call bookings) rather quickly. Then there were a group of 3 guests on their way to the airport (coz of their luggages and all) and were in the queue as well. The couple in the group went off to the conceirge and returned with some guy in a suit. So i overheard that they were catching the 3.30am flight and seems that they will be running tight on thier schedule.

"Sure, no problem. I'll hail a taxi for you." Guy in suit replied.

Now, one would normally expect the hotel staff to head out/sent someone to the main road and wave for a taxi to come into the taxi queue. But this guy in suit stood rooted to his spot and waited for a cab to come in. (Apparently, attempting to intercept my taxi for the guests)

The 3rd toursit in the queue broke out and asked the lady friend "So what did he say? Do we wait in the queue or what?"

"I guess that's what he want us to do. Wait in the queue like everyone else..." the lady retorted in a slightly unhappy tone.

"And then what is he doing?" 3rd guy asked again, referring to the guy in suit.

"I dunno, standing there and look nice, i suppose" the lady replied sarcastically.

After a short wait, guy in suit suggested, "I think you'll need to call for a cab. It's gonna be a long wait at this rate."

"Right... we know that obviously. So is the hotel going to book for us? Or do we hav to call ourselves?" The lady snapped.

Okayyyy.... I gave up waiting there as it was a good 30minutes standing there looking out of place and took a quiet stroll over to Bras Basah to find a cab. Took me only less than 5mins to get a cab home from there.

Found the comments by the lady rather amusing. It's true that the circumstances then were very plain to see... that no cabs will come soon unless u call. Would the manager (presumably) be able to arrange something for the guests who were rushing? Simply put it, somehow he just presented a bad impression to others about our work attitude. What about the smiles and greetings we put forward to our visitors? Those can be trained and drilled into our heads in a short time. But I guess taking the initiative and going the extra step to make someone feel welcome and appreciated takes something that stems out from within us.

Perhaps it becomes somewhat of our own EQ level we hav in us. I guess it's more about being conscious of how we present ourselves in front of others which matters most. In that sense, perhaps being conscious about what's happening around us, that we will take note of the PEOPLE around us, and the little things that we do and how it will affect them indirectly.

Ok, im digressing to nonsense...