According to the above survey my robot alter ego is Rachael from Bladerunner. Excellent! Link courtesy of the mighty, mighty Wil Wheaton Dot Net, my current favorite weblog.
Back to work tomorrow. Yes, I know I went in on Friday, but it was sort of like being on vacation still. Tomorrow I have to get some serious booty-kicking done on a client who's balking at paying for a trip he wants so badly he calls me every week about it. Unfortunately, he is committment shy. He wants to be able to get a refund at any time if we, oh, go to war or something. Not gonna happen. You can't get a reservation at an insanely popular hotel during a major festival without making a non-refundable deposit. Besides, he's going to Spain, not Afganistan. And hello, we're already bombing Kabul; it's no longer a case of when but for how long. I'm not buying his delaying tactics on account of war fears. He's being cheap.
If he doesn't put money down immediately the luxury properties he's demanding will fill up, and then he'll blame me for not getting the right hotels. Oh, I'm real good at spotting the passive-aggressive clients. So I need to come on strong tomorrow and tell him he has to put down a deposit or I won't work on it any more. Either he's willing to go or he isn't, but he's just run out of time. My time.
Rrrrrr! Lucybot not happy. Pay up or Lucybot send you to Spanish equivalent of Motel 6.
In general bookings are up again, which is a huge relief. The corporate clients all have strict instructions to take the cheapest flights now, which makes it easier for us to suggest connecting flights and smaller airlines. Previously it was worth your life to come between a corporate traveler and his frequent flier miles, but that's all changed.
Oh, I promised to tell you about Igor, didn't I? I set up travel for a gentleman named Igor associated with one of our corporate accounts to go to some seminar in Southern California. His English was excellent, albeit heavily accented. We got along very well, and did some joking around. The next day our receptionist Virginia said, "Hey, Igor's on the line for you. He wants to go to Hawaii."
"Igor!" I said brightly in greeting. "You traveling fool!"
"I...am sorry?" he said.
Oops, I thought, that didn't go over very well. Guess I misjudged our relationship. "So, Hawaii. Where and when?"
"I was hoping you could tell me," he said. "Are you not travel agent?"
How odd. I don't remember him talking like Illya Kuryakin yesterday. "Yes, that's why I arranged your trip to Orange County."
Silence. "This Orange County is in Hawaii?"
"No. Wait. This is Igor, right?"
"Yes, yes, I am Igor. My wife and I, we like to visit Hawaii for holiday."
And still I didn't catch on. Finally I asked if it was personal or if the company would be paying for it. Corporate Client has an office in Honolulu, so it didn't seem at all unlikely.
"Oh, you are thinking I am Igor with Corporate Client. I am not him, but I know of him. Many people here confuse us even though I do not work there. I pick your agency out of phone book."
Wow. So not only was it an embarrassing case of mistaken Igor identity, but he actually knew the other Igor and who he worked for. What are the odds of a huge place like the Bay Area constantly getting the two Igors mixed up? It's an awfully small world.
And he never did book that trip to Hawaii with me. Damn.
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