One of my Indian colleagues has pointed out to me that Indians are not wont to accept personal responsibility. One of our running jokes surfaced during a visit to a local coffee shop. We came in on a hot day, and the coffee shop was unpleasantly warm. My colleague asked someone working there whether the AC was not working. The employee replied that the AC was WORKING, just not COOLING. I also noticed the signs that they posted on the door to indicate that the coffee shop was “open” or “closed.” When it was closed, the sign read: “oops wrong timing.”
I noticed another blog that had some funny examples of not accepting personal responsibility…I include the link, and the excerpt from this blog, below.
http://ourdelhistruggle.com/2008/04/08/learning-new-english/
Indian corporate and governmental entities don’t like to take responsibility for anything. Their efforts to apologize for the horrific state of the infrastructure take the passive voice to enterprising new heights with three simple words: “Inconvenience is regretted.”
“Rest assured,” they’re essentially saying, “that someone is sorry this four-lane highway is squeezed into one lane so we can spend six months installing these sewer pipes. We’re NOT saying that WE feel bad about anything; but we want you to know that someone, somewhere, is filled with intense remorse. Not necessarily us. But someone.”
At the airport, which is under a perpetual state of construction, someone somewhere is really wringing their hands over the plight of the traveler. “Inconvenience,” say the signs, “is deeply regretted.”
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