My boss was absent from office today as she attended a meeting. So, I had to answer phones for her. I picked up two phones, one from Cambodia, the other from some other country.
The first phone was easy to handle. The speaker was a young girl who spoke fluent and standard Chinese. I told her the person in charge was not available today and asked her telephone number so that my boss could contacted her later, and she told me that without hesitation.
But the second one was a bit troublesome. The speaker was an old man who spoke Chinese with a stronge accent. He demanded the personal telephone number of my boss. Not knowing whether it was appropriate to tell others the private information of my boss, I lied to him, saying I did not have that. I regreted the moment these words came out of my mouth. What a terrible lie! How could an assistant not know the telephone number of her boss! Fortunately, he didn't question me about that. Then, I requested his telephone number and promised my boss would contact him tomorrow. But he seemed confused and said some words with less fluent and vague Chinese. I did not quiet understand him but I knew one thing from his words that he wanted to contact my boss now. So, I had no choice but told him to wait a minute and I would try to get the telephone number by asking other office clerks. I lied to him again which was not a pleasant experience. The fact was that I went to other office and asked the clerk whether I was allowed to told others the telephone number of my boss and he gave a positive answer. Then, I went back to my office and finally told the man what he expected. He was glad that I helped him and extended his thanks to me, the terrible liar.
After I hung up the phone, I made an introspection. At first I thought it was my lies that made me guilty, but now I altered my idea. My fault is that I took an negative role in my job as a telephone operator. When I made my first lie, with no concern to the man's problem, I just refused his request by saying, "I did not have that number". I was so indifferent!
If I was given a second chance, I would say, "Could you please hang on for a while? I will try to get the number for you." It is similar to my second lie, but it would be better if I said this the first time, because it shows my attitude that I am willing to offer my help.
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