Any cellphone user (atleast in India) would know how it feels to get tonnes of junk SMSes
in your Inbox. Even if you don't spend time reading them, time is required to clear them
from your phone.
But then, there are those rare moments when some of these contain humour (ofcourse unintentional) which makes you smile. Like this SMS I received from JoyAlukkas (the
jewellery store chain) just before 2009 ended, which I have quoted verbatim below :
"joy of new tear. Buy jewellery from joyalukkas & get free 22ct gold coin, pendant,
earrings & chain."
Ofcourse, they meant 'year', but just that it went out as 'tear' to thousands of cellphones.
To give credit to them, they did send out another SMS a day or two later with the typo
corrected.
And as if to prove that gaffes like this are not the sole preserve of cellphones, today I got
an email from Outlook magazine, reminding me that "only 10 days left to renew my
subscription". Ofcourse, their previous deadline of "only 10 days left ..." got over only
yesterday.
The email lists out the offer details, free gifts that come with the 1/3/5 year subscriptions
etc and is signed "Himanshu Pandey, Head: Business Development". The only problem is
that instead of addressing the email to me, it is addressed to "Dear Himanshu Pandey".
Looks like the Outlook Business Dev. Head forgot to renew his own subscription. :-)
Thursday, January 07, 2010
What can be worse than your baggage not reaching with you ?
Many air-travellers would have gone through the ordeal of reaching their destination,
only to learn that their checked-in baggage has either not reached or worse, gone to
some other destination. I always worry about this when I travel, but luckily I never
had this happen to me.
But as my colleague learnt a few days ago, things could be much worse. He had returned
to Chennai after a 1-month stint in the U.S., only to be told that his baggage hasn't turned
up in the same flight. They told him that he would be intimated as soon as it arrives.
A week later, he is asked to collect the baggage from the airport. Relieved that the ordeal
is finally over, he goes to collect the luggage. He notices that the locks are broken & a new
laptop that was in it is missing. He had bought the laptop for a friend & made the mistake
of packing it in the check-in baggage.
Since he is a seasoned traveller, I was surprised that he chose to put expensive stuff in
check-in baggage. I always pack fragile and expensive stuff in my hand-baggage, since
check-in baggage not only goes through rough handling, but there always is the risk of
pilferage. Hope this helps anyone reading this avoid such (costly) mistakes.
only to learn that their checked-in baggage has either not reached or worse, gone to
some other destination. I always worry about this when I travel, but luckily I never
had this happen to me.
But as my colleague learnt a few days ago, things could be much worse. He had returned
to Chennai after a 1-month stint in the U.S., only to be told that his baggage hasn't turned
up in the same flight. They told him that he would be intimated as soon as it arrives.
A week later, he is asked to collect the baggage from the airport. Relieved that the ordeal
is finally over, he goes to collect the luggage. He notices that the locks are broken & a new
laptop that was in it is missing. He had bought the laptop for a friend & made the mistake
of packing it in the check-in baggage.
Since he is a seasoned traveller, I was surprised that he chose to put expensive stuff in
check-in baggage. I always pack fragile and expensive stuff in my hand-baggage, since
check-in baggage not only goes through rough handling, but there always is the risk of
pilferage. Hope this helps anyone reading this avoid such (costly) mistakes.
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