When patience is not a virtue

Patience is a virtue. Indiscriminate application of patience is not.

When waiting for an egg to hatch, patience is our friend. Trying to get the chicken (or the lizard) out early isn't going to avail us much. On the other hand, watching a customer service agent go through our case in slow motion is definitely not a fit case for patience.

As processes and personal risk-avoidance become dominant, poor service and undue delays have become an epidemic not only in the government but also in the private sector. References to “process poison” and “process anesthesia” are not exceptions any more. Process-designers, instead of focusing on the service quality or timely outcome, quite often seem to emphasize due diligence and checks-and-balances, much to the delight of the auditors instead of customers.

People and their attitudes are important too. Having a stake in the outcome helps. Well-motivated individuals can delight customers despite process hurdles. Those who don't care, routinely take shelter in inane provisions despite well-designed processes.

That brings up two questions:

What if we teach discretion and application of thought to our children? That'll make them ask tough, uncomfortable questions. It would still be worth the trouble in the long run.

What if we reject patience as a virtue? It will need some discretion. It will be harder to do when we have something to lose; or when we need to get on with other things, but it will make a huge difference. Even the simple act of letting someone know that their behaviour is not acceptable will trigger a natural human behavioural change. Not everyone has a vested interest in tormenting us; those people will surely change for the better.

But then, can we overcome the other virtue we are taught alongside patience, such as unquestioning obedience?

Why I won't register with NPR

I asked a few people "Why should I register with NPR?". The responses are mostly along these lines.

"It is the law. So you must!"
Nope. That argument is for sheep and mindless drones. It is pretty much the same as:

• "Everyone has to, at some point or other"
• "Everyone else is doing it. So you should too"
• "What do you lose? Why not just go with the flow? Why do you want to stand out?"

"It is against the law. If you don't, the government can jail you!"

Yea, well. I am thrilled. My government says I must come and "register" (for what?). If not, they will jail me! Can't get any more tyrannical that, can it?

Here is something getting close to real logic.

"Someone thought this is going to help identify all illegal immigrants. So they said let us register all our citizens; anyone who isn't, is an immigrant! To make sure they can force you to, they wrote this down in the Citizenship Act."

Sounds okay. Even if you overlook the assumption that "all illegal immigrants are terrorists". Until you think about it. 

They don't have a clue of how to determine citizenship, do they? Their processes are dependent on someone local not "objecting" (which one overrules?) to your being included. So some whacko decides he will "object" to people either out of vendetta or simple thrill of being able to - and off goes your citizenship. They have a "process" for grievance redressal, I am sure. I will have to run around government offices proving that I am a bonafide citizen. But hey, why put my citizenship in question in the first place? 

Here is what it all comes to - a classic case of a process design gone wrong. To catch the small set of exceptions, we treat everybody like they are criminals.

I say NO. Those of you who agree, please join me in saying NO.

Suffer silently, suffer repeatedly

Most of us dislike friction. Dislike to be dragged into unpleasant interactions. It is part of our personality that makes us social beings. It is also a necessary trait that helps us recognize that others' may disagree with us and deal with it in a civilized manner. However, there are many occasions where this approach should not be taken. Here are a few examples.

1. Stray dog menace in the neighborhood. Makes it difficult to go for solitary walks. Not easy to take our pet out. We are too busy to look up the concerned authority and complain. We may even try once or twice and give up with the other side doesn't pick up the phone or answer the email. We grumble and move on. We set ourselves up for repeated suffering.

2. Poor service when traveling. Airline staff. Taxi cabs. Ticket inspectors. We have a train / plane to catch; so we can't take enough time out to complain. They get away. Next time we go through the same place, we suffer again. Silently.

3. Government service delivery. We put up with apathy and other attitudes. "what can we do?" we ask.

4. Politics - local, regional and national. We don't like to pressured to pay donations. One particular action of a corrupt politician doesn't affect us directly, so we make a few glib comments among friends and move on.

Surely the world is full of such examples. We suffer silently. As a result, we suffer repeatedly.

Speak up. Even if you don't make a scene right there, use the internet as a medium to let your views be known. Send emails. Post on facebook. Complain on online consumer forums. Tweet about it. Ask like minded people to speak up along with you. Yes, there are huge number of people out there who will agree with you.

It is a start. An opening to make a difference. A great alternative to suffering silently.