I went for another road show this morning at the same place I went last week. Today’s road show was not very encouraging. I woke up feeling unexcited. I will not say that I have lost steam but I felt discouraged this morning and the result I got at the road show adds on to the miseries I felt.
Firstly, there were only three members from my own team; my leader, myself and an old man whom I do not fancy at all. I got there at eight on the dot and I saw my Manager there. He is always the first to arrive. I am beginning to feel that he works by the principle of ‘it’s better to be three hours too early than a minute too late’. I respect that even though it gives me the pressure to practice punctuality even more diligently.
There were members from other teams but I do not really know them. I started by giving out my flyers as usual. Many people mistook me as a Chinese so many times. I got so used to it that it did not surprise me at all. Some members from other teams even thought that I was a Filipino and an Indonesian Chinese. I laughed at their thoughts. I got that too since the sudden influx of Indonesian Chinese and Filipinos into Singapore.
Have I told you when I still had my stall at Putrajaya, many of the Muslim patrons were doubtful to buy from my stall since they thought I was a Chinese. Sometimes, I wonder if that had had an impact on my daily sales. What is even funnier was some of the other food stalls owner had jokingly suggested that I wore a ‘tudung’. Of course I wouldn’t do that because it is against my principle. I will not submit myself to selfishness or peer pressure without upholding the true meaning of wearing a ‘tudung’. Perhaps it is where I grew up and the conditioning I had in my family that made me have this kind of principle.
I let them think what they want of me. It really has no effect on me at all. As far as I am concerned, I do not have to look like Malay to be Malay and I shall not wear a ‘tudung’ to attract more sales to my business until I am sincerely ready and willing.
Coming back to the road show, I was approached by a lady who asked if the road show is only for residential buyers and sellers. As I was about to answer her, the old man from my team interrupted us and answered her on my behalf and took her number. I seriously do not know how to explain. I am not sure if he did that because he was over friendly or it was just his nature to ‘steal’ potential clients from fellow colleagues. Apparently that lady was looking for a factory to buy. It does not matter if he gets to close the deal but I got turned off by his attitude.
You know Diary, time and again when I attended the in-house course and CEA classes. We have been warned by the trainers to beware of unethical agents. This is a business in a never dying industry with opportunities to earn unlimited income. And it is because of this too that unethical agents have surfaced. These breed of agents would do anything for the sake of money. I do not know if I have misinterpreted his approach today but I cannot consider of anything else other than unprincipled to reflect on what happened today. I kept a distance from him since that moment. I just do not want to associate myself with these breed of agents. Call me anything you like, but I got turned off big time by him.
My manager left early today and I was left with this group of people that I hardly know. You know how introvert I can be and how reserved I am in an unfamiliar crowd. I do not like their working styles, all they did was to sit and wait for people to approach them. When people came over to our bunting, they approached those people while I was left behind because I was busy distributing my name cards to passers by about 10 meters away from the bunting. They did give out flyers but not aggressively like how I would do. I felt left out during the road show. For the first time after a few road shows, I felt demoralized. Well, perhaps it was my fault because I did not allow myself to gel in with them. On the contrary, how can I when I already felt left out in the beginning.
I was sad Diary. I wanted to call anybody to talk about it but I do not have anybody anymore. My friends have all left me, or should I say, I have left all my friends. I am just being totally alone now you know. It’s just I, myself and me now against the world. I went home feeling lousy and low. I walked home sweating under the hot sun. I miss my car, my home, my good friends and Subang Jaya. I wish things need not have to change for me. I wish I could hear my mother's voice to soothe my hurting soul. Let me cry now Diary, let me cry...
No comments:
Post a Comment