Trapped within a Mindset, incompetence compounded A moment ago, I received a cold call out of the blue. A woman with a pleasant voice called and wanted to know if I had received an invitation in the mail a week ago. She was puzzled to hear that I hadn't received anything and remarked that her other 'guests' had received the mail. She introduced herself in a fast slur twice and I did not manage to catch her name or her company's name despite having her repeat herself. She spat out words like a running water hose which was not wrong but when she slurred the names of the company, it was certainly detrimental to the awareness she supposed to be creating. Deliberate or incompetence? Well... Slurring wasn't going to assist the communication of ideas when it came to marketing, was it? She said that her company had just established itself in Singapore and would be holding an exhibition at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel this weekend to build awareness. A $50.00 gift voucher to some restaurant - she slurred again - would be given after the event. I asked her what this was about and she claimed that it was awareness-building for that mysterious company she represented and there would not be any selling involved. My impression was that the exhibition would almost probably be that of a new condominium or resort development project either local or overseas. However, it was hard to say, it could well be a scam or some hard-sell tactic of some sort. She finally came to the point and asked when I would be attending? I told her I would not, hence, she wanted to know why. I posed the same question back to her, 'Why would I be attending?' and she simply could not comprehend. Try as she did, she stuttered and grappled with the question. She was trapped within a mindset and was unable to comprehend that there were people who did not follow her script, people who were not sheep out there. Finally, she hung up.