Hurrah to Woman Power

Are women better at solving problems, more empathetic, more patient than their male counter-parts?

When we flew from Muscat to Bangalore, I forgot to request for seats on the ‘A’ row – the first row. This row of seats has more leg room and is therefore perfect for little persons who will fidget their way thru the flight, get up and down the seat innumerable times, and constantly keep changing places. This row also rules out the availability of a great ‘time-pass’ – constantly kicking the seat ahead.

Mindful of the fact that it was a night flight and wanting to disturb those around me the least, I asked the purser (male) if I could shift to Row A from Row C. Even without looking at me he said ‘Sorry, The flight is full.’

Fresh from having read ‘The Aladdin Factor’, I decided to ask once more – this time to the air-hostess. ‘Sure’ she said, ‘Go on to those two empty seats’. She requested a young girl to occupy the seats we had just vacated. Problem solved. Hurrah to woman power!

I was at a sari shop the other day and did not like any of the prints I saw. I asked the salesman if I could buy reams of plain white silk with the idea of getting them block printed myself. I also asked the salesman if he could recommend a printer.

The man hummed and hawed long-windedly (tautology?!) about getting printed saris and not plain material and how they do not deal with printers directly. Then the lady next to him interjected and said she could place a special order for the materials for me. She told me of 2 printers. About 2 short sentences. Problem solved. Hurrah to woman power.

Yesterday I was at BSNL. BSNL is the Omantel of Bangalore. I had been directed to this office by the helpful call centre and obviously the chap at the call centre had all his facts wrong.

The lady at the counter called up the right office, found out what I needed to do, gave me a form to fill up and offered to have it delivered to the right place. Problem solved. Hurrah to woman power!

I watched this lady patiently explain the procedures to a young boy who wanted to cancel a landline registered in the name of his recently deceased mother and take a mobile connection instead. She helped the boy fill up forms, directed him to the right persons and the boy must have gone home with the job done.

In the meantime, the phone rang. This lady was busy but 3 men alongside were not. They did nothing to answer the phone.

The person in charge of the office passed by. Clearly irritated at what she saw, she directed the men to answer the phone. As she walked away, the men debated who should answer the phone. Seniority won. The junior most amongst them picked up the phone. He could not handle the query and asked the others about it. They told him to transfer the call to another person. This he did with alacrity. Putting the phone down he continued where he left off – chatting with his colleagues.

Hurrah to woman power. Next time you want a job done you know whom to approach.

Hail the new world order. China and India are not the only emerging super powers. The women have arrived. And the world is going to be a better place because of it. Doubtless Jacques Sauniere would be pleased.