My First Mobilephone At Last

Friday, January 30, 2009

Surprised!? Please don’t get me wrong. It is not my first personal mobilephone. It is my first mobilephone issued by the company I work for. And I received it yesterday, 29 January 2009.

It is long overdue. Exactly one year and four months in my contract, with eight months left, they eventually gave me a phone to cater for my business calls.

Well, during my first day I know that I am entitled for a mobilephone or at least a simcard, I don’t mind using my own mobilephone. During my first week, I really did not make a big fuss out of it, I don’t have any calls to make anyway.

But months came and go, and nobody from the administration or personnel department bothers if I already got my mobilephone to use for my business calls. At this time I have already some unavoidable business calls to make and so all the while I am using my own mobilephone and paying these business calls from my own pocket.

When it became getting costly to me, I decided to talk to the (former) project manager if I can have at least an allowance for my business calls, forget about the mobilephone, just an allowance will do. To my surprise, he asked me why I should need allowance for calls, to whom I am calling and I asked me to use our landline to make calls.

I felt my ears turned red hot and steam coming out from my nose like a wild bull. I wanted to rip-off his head for such a stupid question, but not surprising from a stupid person (excuse me for the harsh word), but I tried to be civilized and maintain my composure and answer him with all self-control.

I said;

Firstly, it is for business calls I am asking, not for my personal calls,

Secondly, I am entitled for it,

Thirdly, my work requires liaising with all the department heads and especially to site personnel who are most often not at the site offices.

Lastly, our landline cannot make calls to mobilephones.

He said he will think about it, but my allowance for business calls never came.

One day, the (former) project manager came to my office and he asked me to urgently call my immediate superior who is in Riyadh at that time. I told him I can’t call him I don’t have a mobilephone. He pointed at my mobilephone and said, “What is that, isn’t that a mobilephone?”. I said, “Yes, it is, but it is for my personal use and that is a mobilephone” pointing at his mobilephone.

“Use the phone (landline)” he said.

“It doesn’t work for overseas calls, it is blocked” I replied to him.

“Well ask the secretaries to call for you” he insists.

“It is lunchtime now, the secretaries went out for lunch”

He end up calling my immediate superior using his mobilephone and passing it to me.

For one moment, the (former) project manager became my secretary, J J

Anyway, it is not about having a mobilephone, I can afford to have my own, but it is about your entitlement. In this part of the world, the culture and the mentality, there is a saying that perfectly fits;

“A baby cannot have his/her milk until he/she cries”.

Cruel it may seem but this is reality. If you don’t claim what is entitled for you, you won’t have it. Sometimes even if it is clearly your entitlement, you still need to fight for it.

This is reality here in the Middle East.

And I learned that from my first mobilephone.

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