Message #2769

[StephenK]

Hi Into Blue  :^)

    She's physically okay, but last night was quite the experience for her!

      A couple of days ago she was asked by the human resources person at the company she
worked for if she would go to some "relatively small" get-together and explain to the people there
what their company did.  She was asked as a favor because they didn't have anyone else at the
time who could do it... oh well, she thought, it meant loosing a night and having to drive into
town, but, okay she'd be a team player and do it....

      So she drives in, arrives at the building, walks into the room and realized what the deal was
actually about.  The gathering was huge, semi-formal, all doctors and head nurses and hospital
administrators.  There were 5 or 6 other top insurance companies that had flown in teams from
all over the country to make presentations to the attendees on behalf of their clients.   And then
she saw that she was third on the presentations list.  There was a stage, in a large hall, and from
there they were doing their sales pitchs.  The companies that presented before her had slide shows, large
binder handouts, 15 minute presentations with every bell and whistles imaginable.... They were
fully professionals and did presentations for a living.....  Wendy had nothing.... the company had
sent her and one of their low-level outside sales rep in totally unprepared for both the size of the
event, and the nature of the clients they were addressing. Not even with talking points... Most of
these doctors she knew in some way on a professional level.   Wendy's been a nurse in the Spokane
area for the better part of 17 years and has worked just about everywhere there.  She takes great
pride in her integrity and her professionalism.  

   Came her time she went up on the stage, the sales rep followed, she looked over the crowed
as they stared back at her.... and then they bluffed their way through about 3 minutes.... she
said it was obvious to everyone they had nothing... but Wendy's pretty ballzy and put her best
face on it, spoke with authority..... and waited until she was driving home in the car before she
allowed herself to completely fall apart....  she termed it as this being the most humiliating situation
that she's ever been involved in....  

    Earlier today she was looking for another job... (that's when I wrote you) by this afternoon she
decided she'd stick around a bit longer (so she can run back and forth between here and spokane freely) but
she's hell-bent on getting a job on the West side of the state, sooner rather than later.  

    What happened last night is currently circulating among the management of the company and
stuff is likely to be trickling in for some time over the way this was handled by the department that
is suppose to be over seeing this sort of thing.....

    Wendy is still in a mild state of shock..... physically okay but still emotionally shaken...  

   It's bizarre the way a company will treat it's own people at times....  I'm happy I was there and for
the invention of cell phones so we could talk throughout the day to relieve some of the pressure....

   I'm not thinking she'll ever volunteer like that again....!