Monday, September 8, 2008

License to be unrealistic

I see a waitress standing at the door of the lobby where my training program is going on. She has been standing by the door for at least 5 hours now. Her job description is simple - Open and close the doors for guests, with a smile.....
.... And i thought my job description was not power packed..

The other day i was taking the late night flight from Mumbai to Delhi. It was close to midnight when the plane was about to touchdown Delhi. I sneaked a quick view towards the air hostess cabin and saw them wearing a make-up and getting ready to say "Thank u sir.. have a good night". Here is a quick peek into their day : Get up - Board - Smile - Serve - Sleep - Back to step 1....
.... And i thought my job was travel intensive..

When my plane did land at Delhi, i took a cab back home and started chatting with the driver on the way back. Meet Mr. Unknown, he drives from 6 AM to about 12 - 12.30 AM. Each day. Has been doing it for past 8 years. Saves enough per month to pay a two day visit to his wife and children who live about 100 KMs away from Delhi. They cant live with him. Its unaffordable. Mr. Unknown hopes that over the next 10 years, he would save enough to buy his own car....
.... And i thought my career was progressing a bit slow..

But they are different. They do not have a FT 20 B-School degree...
... Are they really different? Or to put it the other way, does a B-School degree really give the license to complain, be impatient and unrealistic in my dreams?