"That is not possible" and other new concepts

That phrase was not one that I heard very often in my former, spoiled by great customer service, American life. I really don't think I've EVER heard that phrase. If you ask for something in the States, you can pretty much get whatever you want. You might have to jump through some hoops, but the person or company will in the end help you.

Now, on to my new, jaded by terrible customer service, Dutch life. I hear this phrase ALL the time. It seems like anything that is outside of what is offered or what is the norm is absolutely not possible. This used to drive me crazy. In my head, I was thinking, "What do you MEAN that is not possible? MAKE IT POSSIBLE!!". Of course, I didn't voice these thoughts because 1. they don't help and 2. Europeans already think that Americans are kind of crazy with all of their options. For example, I like that I can go to an American grocery store and pick from 20 different kinds of orange juice. Europeans think this is sheer nonsense - orange juice is orange juice. Okay, but I digress...

This past Thursday, I went out to dinner with a few of my colleagues. It was WONDERFUL weather (which was a variance from the norm - it's been pouring down rain nearly EVERY DAY!! AHHH!!), so we went to this restaurant by a lake. We were having a good time, drinking a few beers, and generally just being carefree in this lovely summer weather. My friend Greg ordered his dinner with rice instead of fries, which is where all of the trouble began. The waitress said okay to this request, and went to the kitchen to place the order. When our order came out, brought by a young Dutch guy, there was no rice, only french fries. Greg told the guy that he was supposed to have rice instead, and the guy replied... you guessed it: "That is not possible." Greg was really discombobulated - there was rice coming out with other dishes, so why couldn't he get rice with his? I thought he was going to lose it. He asked the server, "So, what are we going to do about this?". The server replied, "Well, you are going to eat french fries." Oh boy! Seriously, I thought a fist fight was going to ensue, but Greg kept his composure. Then, it comes time to pay. Luckily, I had brought cash, because, again, you guessed it... paying with credit cards "is not possible".

This phrase has permeated itself into every part of my life here... help with the IT support desk often times "is not possible". Getting a train ticket quickly from the travel department - "Sorry, not possible". It even worked its way into my time in Prague... Michelle and I wanted to eat ice cream cones in the ice cream shop - that was not possible. We had to eat the ice cream in a cup if we were going to eat in the shop - their compromise? They put the cones on TOP of the ice cream in the dishes!! WTF? I just continue to be amazed at the rigidity of what is possible, and, more likely, what is NOT possible. Yikes!!

Friday... another wonderful experience with customer service. My friends Nadia and Zoe joined me for dinner at a Thai restaurant. We had ordered spring rolls as a starter, and, you know how girls are - there were four on the plate, so we all ate one and left the last because we were all trying not to be piggies. :) After 45 minutes of not getting our food and having one spring roll left on the plate (and getting progressively more drunk because that was the only food I had had since lunch and it was already 9pm), the waitress came by and asked, "Are you going to eat that last one, because we won't bring your main dish out until you are done?". WHAT!?! So, we split the last one, and our meals came out 45 minutes later. After scarfing down our food, the bill finally came... which, does this surprise you, was incorrect - there were extra glasses of wine and beer. Luckily, I wasn't TOO drunk to miss these problems. Finally, we paid and headed home.

I can't wait to come home and experience some GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!