I Came

I am in Singapore. The objective was to meet with the customer. The reality? This meeting was with the sourcing, i.e. procurement, group. The meeting began auspiciously:

“You came.” The customer began.

“Indeed,” I replied. “I came. I saw.”

“Hmm..”

“And tomorrow, I will conquer,” I thought.

“I can’t hear you,” the customer said.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Your tie is so loud that it echoes.”

“Have you seen my socks?” I asked.

“Can you give me a better price for a bulk order?” He asked.

“A bulk order?” I replied – thinking of my bonus.

“We want 37 servers….”

“That’s not a bulk..”

“… in 7 countries.”

“And, Dan,” my colleague interjected, “all 37 are different models.”

“We want to lease the two in Indoesia.” Procurement was undaunted.

“No!” I thought. “It’s not a bulk order,” I replied. “Good Grief!” I thought. “There is an endless supply of procurement staff; I'm surrounded.”

Luckily, I had time to spend seeing a bit of Singapore.