Twitter users describe stupid questions asked during interviews

Twitter users describe stupid questions asked during interviewsTwitter users describe stupid questions asked during interviewsYou may have seen StupidQuestionsAtJobInterview trending when you logged onto Twitter this week.Some of Twitter users responses were certainly a more tongue-in-cheek look at the interview process, but added some levity to what can certainly be a daunting, draining task.Heres are a few things Twitter users had to say

The No. 1 mistake in networking Follow up or go home

The No. 1 mistake in networking Follow up or go homeThe No. 1 mistake in networking Follow up or go homeYou attend an event and engage in the most revered, all-star networking behaviors. You are friendly and witty. You only consume food that cant get stuck between your teeth. Your dazzling, off-the-cuff remarks flow forth, as a small crowd gazes on in awe. You propel out of the room, waving at new acquaintances neither overstaying your welcome nor rushing out suspiciously early. Watching the cityscape dreamily rush by from the backseat of your Lyft, you recount the evening with a self-satisfied smile.The next day your hectic routine of work and home lassos your life. A few weeks later, you discover an unceremonious heap of tattered geschftlicher umgang cards at the bottom of your briefcase. A perfunctory skim leaves you without the vaguest recollection of where they might have originated, so you toss the whole pile in the trash.Your efforts were for naught. Without follow up, youre just talking to people.If youre not following up, youre not networkingWhy dont people follow up? Lets debunk five popular excuses.Flimsy Excuse 1 I have a bad memoryStalwart Response 1 An A+ memory is not a prerequisite for follow up. Quality systems save the day. After an encounter worthy of next steps, offer your business card and request one in return. Immediately upon parting, note pertinent information on the front of the card you received such asName, with correct pronunciation hintsEvent location and dateTopics discussedIntended follow up ideasFlimsy Excuse 2 I sent a general follow up to everyone I met at that thing.Stalwart Response 2 Anyone can send a generic follow up to a BCCd list of recent encounters. This is a hazy imitat of real follow up. Nonspecific language masking as a personal note is quickly dismissed.Flimsy Excuse 3 Im too busy.Stalwart Response 3 Quality over quantity. Choose where to direct your effort and accomplish meaningful follow up with remarkable alac rity. Prioritizing means putting more effort into fewer people. Focus those who made the strongest impression.Flimsy Excuse 4 They can contact me if interested Following up seems needy or pushy or desperate (take your pick).Stalwart Response 4 Thats ridiculous.Putting the onus on others is a surefire way to lose valuable contacts. Its all in the execution. Have you been a recipient of follow up that rubbed you the wrong way? Reflect on why it had that impact. Was it aggressive, pleading, or demanding? Ensure yours is respectful, articulate, and thoughtful.Flimsy Excuse 5 I followed up and didnt hear backStalwart Response 5 Follow up is rarely a one-off. You may not hear back anfangsbuchstabely for loads of reasons, and virtually none are intended as a personal affront. Lack of response does not equal lack of interest.Be resilientPeople are stressed, overwhelmed, and behind their shiny veneer alarmingly disorganized. That means diligent outreach can wind up lost in space at the oth er end. When our efforts dont get a chipper reply within a few days we have all kinds of reasons in our minds. Far more likely? They never read it, read it and got distracted, intended to reply, or could swear they did reply.CalibrateIn your initial encounter assess what matters to your new contact and let that guide you. Is there a sense of urgency? Are they merely fact-finding? Adjust your communication to these cues. If youre not sure, ask questions.When checking in, be upbeat and concise.TimingFollow up within two days, with the interaction fresh in your minds. We forget half of what we hear within about forty-eight hours. merge these two paragraphsOne caveat. Monday is considered the worst day to follow up, make requests, or ask for a favor. Many of us are unlikely to respond to anything perceived as non-urgent the first day of a workweek.Be usefulConsider sending your new acquaintance a relevant link, reference, or article of interest. A thoughtful gesture conveys that you are helpful and recall the conversation. Include your website so the recipient can learn more about what you have to offer.SubmissionsWhen providing a proposal, job application, or, project quote, it is fine to request acknowledgment of receipt with your initial submission. merge these two paragraphsIf you hear nothing back with the deadline encroaching, email a brief check-in that includes the original submission. Keep it simple Just confirming you received my proposal sent June 18, attached here. Let me know if I can provide additional information.Letting goDespite best efforts, some sought-after connections dont pan out. At a point, outreach yields diminishing marginal returns, and its time to move on. Dont obsess over sunk costs. Knowing when to cut your losses is as important as being attuned to genuine receptivity.Devora Zack is CEO of Only Connect Consulting and author of NETWORKING FOR PEOPLE WHO HATE NETWORKING A Field Guide for Introverts, the Overwhelmed, and the Underconnec ted, Second Edition (Berrett-Koehler, May 21, 2019).

Things you can do today to feel better about your money worries

Things you can do today to feel better about your money worriesThings you can do today to feel better about your money worriesMaking your money stretch far enough can sometimes feel like an impossible task. If you feel like you dont have control over your finances, here are 9 things you can do today to feel better about your money worries.1. Identify the cause of the worryWhat is it that is causing anxiety? Identifying the cause of money worries can help you formulate a plan.Your expenses are more than your incomeyou spend more than you earnYou cant seem to saveyou live payday to payday and find it impossible to saveJob loss or redundancybeing out of work, even temporarily, can cause financial stressDebtif youve borrowed more than you can afford to pay back, you could be struggling to manage your debt2. Face your fearsThe worse thing you can do is avoiding the problem. If you cant pay your debt, then speak to the lender and find out if there is an alternative payment plan or seek pro fessional advice. Dont let the problem get out of control.3. Stay healthyAnxiety can have a knock-on effect such as lack of sleep or loss of appetite. Some people find themselves eating more and consuming more alcohol. All of these things could make your situation worse. You need to look after your physical health or the added stress could make you ill.4. Focus on what you can change todayIf you cant resolve a problem, then worrying wont help. Concentrate on taking positive actions and focus on things that you have control over.5. Dont obsess over moneyMoney is not the most important thing in the world after all. Constantly thinking about all the things you cant afford and all the things you wish you had isnt productive whatsoever. Focus on the good things in your life friends, family, good health, your job, hobbies. Work on changing your mindset to the positive.6. Budget your moneyWhen you feel like you arent in control, it is easy to make yourself stressed. If you dont control you r spending, this could be the cause of your money worries. Take some time to make a realistic budget, drumherum out how much you will spend on bills, food, petrol, clothing and treats. Once you have a plan, make sure you stick to it.7. Spend less than you earnIf you arent tracking what you spend money on, it can be easy to spend more than you realise. Keep a record of what you spend and work out where you can cut back. Could you take a packed lunch instead of buying lunch every day? Could you walk more tosave money on petrol? Maybe you could suggest a night in with friends rather than spending money on a night out.8. Be honest with yourselfLook at your income and your outgoings. Where are the problems? You need to be honest with yourself about what actions you can take. Do you need to cut back? Is your spending out of control? Are you wasting money? Have you borrowed more than you can afford?9. Ask for helpTheres nothing wrong with asking for a little help and support if you need it . Simply talking things through with a friend or family member can help you feel better. Alternatively, it might be time to speak to a professional debt adviser or financial specialist.Citizens Adviceis a good starting point.At Morses Club, for example, the team specialize insmall cash loansto help with unexpected expenses. Here, they assess each application in person, based on your individual circumstances. In some cases, the team can offer loans to those who have been refused credit from another lender which is a big plus for some. This isnt guaranteed however but, if youve been considering schwimmbad credit loans, then Morses Club may be able to help.For example, take a 200 loan repayable over 20 weeks at just 15.00 per week. Rate of interest would be 130% p.a fixed Representative 756.5% APR, Total Amount Payable comes to 300.This article was originally posted on YourCoffeeBreak.co.uk.

4 Tips to Improve Your Hire-ability

4 Tips to Improve Your Hire-ability4 Tips to Improve Your Hire-abilityWhether you presently are looking for a new job or simply want to keep yourself marketable for down the line, there are plenty of actions that can serve you well at any time. Below are four strategies that may improve your hire-ability with employers.Here are four tips to improve your hire-ability1. Update your LinkedIn ProfilePotential employers often see your profile before anything else. Ensure it leaves a positive first impression. (You do have a professional-looking, good-quality picture on it, right?)Make a habit of updating your profile once a quarter, says career advisor andgreyzone founder Tami Palmer. Are there trainings or certifications you can now include? Does your summary tell your best story of who you are and what youre all about? Read your profile as if you were a recruiter and see how you can get more precise in your words and attract the right companies.Consider further enhancing your profile by asking others for endorsements and recommendations. Most people are happy to help, and their testimonials encourage trust in your personal brand.2. Stay RelevantDemonstrate that youre someone who is always trying to learn and improve. Employers will value your initiative, your resume will benefit from the inclusion of plus-rechnenal classes or seminars, and youll have more to discuss at networking events or job interviews.Keeping on top of industry trends and new technologies is especially important to the marketability of older workers. The easiest way to be seen as a dinosaur is to fall behind and off track, says Roy Cohen, author of The Wall Street Professionals Survival Guide Success Secrets of a Career Coach.3. Increase VisibilityWhat comes up when you perform a search on your name? A strong online presence attracts attention and builds your professional reputation. Consider contributing articles to an industry publication or becoming a frequent, thoughtful commentator to a pe rtinent LinkedIn group. You even may want to create your own website as a central location for displaying examples of your work.Put some effort into your off-line visibility, too. Cohen suggests joining your industrys professional association, perhaps even chairing a committee. The visibility will offer you access to colleagues at other firms so that you build a robust network should you need it for a job search or to gather competitive information. It will also serve as a platform to promote your own company. When your cheerleading gets back to bosses and senior management- which it will- you score a point.4. NetworkAnd speaking of networking, when is the last time you had lunch with a former coworker or dropped an email to someone you met at a conference? Maintaining relationships is imperative whether youre looking for a job or not. In addition to nurturing the ties you have, improve your hire-ability by stepping away from your comfort zone. Make a point of talking to people outs ide your own age group or who work in a different field. A diverse network provides multiple opportunities for others to see the great things you bring to the tableIf youre in the marketfor a new job, it also helps to target companies that are currently hiring. Check out these 11 companies hiring this fall for flexible jobs.Readers, what steps have you utilized to improve your hire-ability? Share your successes and challenges with us below

Military Medical Standards For The Heart - Enlistment Or Appointment

Military Medical Standards For The Heart - Enlistment Or AppointmentMilitary Medical Standards For The Heart - Enlistment Or AppointmentThere are some medical conditions which can disqualify otherwise eligible people from serving or even enlisting in the U.S. military. Other conditions which may affect the ability to perform duties as a soldier, Marine, sailor or airman may not be as apparent. Here are some of the medical conditions related to the heart that may preclude you from serving in the military. These get a bit technical, so check with a medical professional if youre unsure. And its also a good idea to ask your recruiter for any updates to this list. Heart Valve Function or Disease Current or history of all valvular heart diseases, congenital or acquired, including those improved by surgery, are disqualifying. Mitral valve prolapse or bicuspid aortic valve is not disqualifying unless there is associated abnormally high heart rates (tachyarrhythmia), improper valve functi on (mitral valve regurgitation), narrowing of the artery (aortic stenosis), insufficiency, or an enlarging of the heart (cardiomegaly). Other disqualifying conditions of the heart (unless otherwise noted, these restrictions apply for both past and current instances of the condition mentioned) are as follows Coronary heart disease, a history of symptomatic abnormal heart beat rhythm (arrhythmia) or electrocardiographic evidence of arrhythmiaSupraventricular elevated heart rate, or any abnormal heart beat (arrhythmia) originating from the atrium or sinoatrial node, such as atrial flutter, and atrial fibrillation, unless there has been no recurrence during the preceding 2 years while off all medicationsPremature atrial or ventricular contractions sufficiently symptomatic to require treatment, or result in physical or psychological impairment Ventricular arrhythmias, including ventricular fibrillation, tachycardia, or multifocal premature ventricular contractions, is disqualifying (howe ver occasional asymptomatic unifocal premature ventricular contractions are not disqualifying)Ventricular conduction disorders, including, but not limited to disorders with left bundle branch block, Mobitz type II second degree atrioventricular (AV) block, and third degree AV block and Lown-Ganong-Levine-Syndrome associated with an arrhythmiaWolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, unless it has been successfully ablated for a period of two years without recurrence of arrhythmia and now with a normal electrocardiogram Disturbances such as first degree AV block, left anterior hemiblock, right bundle branch block, or Mobitz type I second degree AV block are disqualifying when symptomatic or associated with underlying cardiovascular diseaseCardiomegaly, hypertrophy or dilatation of the heartAbnormality of the heart muscle (cardiomyopathy), including inflammation of the heart (myocarditis), or congestive heart failureSwelling and irritation of the pericardium (pericarditis), unless the individua l is free of all symptoms for 2 years, and has no evidence of cardiac restriction or persistent pericardial effusion Current persistent tachycardiaCongenital anomalies of heart and great vessels, except for corrected patent ductus arteriosus Disqualifying Vascular System Conditions Current or history of abnormalities of the arteries and blood vessels, including, but not limited to aneurysms, atherosclerosis, or arteritis, are disqualifying, as is a current or history of hypertensive vascular disease. Elevated blood pressure defined as the average of three consecutive sitting blood pressure measurements separated by at least 10 minutes, diastolic greater than 90 mmHg or three consecutive systolic pressure measurements greater than 140 mmHg is disqualifying. History of pulmonary or systemic embolization, and current or history of peripheral vascular disease, including, but not limited to diseases such as Raynauds Disease where blood flow is restricted or decreased to the digits ca using obvious discoloration, are disqualifying. And finally, current or history of venous diseases, including but not limited to recurrent inflammatory issues that cause blood clots to form and block one or more veins, usually in your legs (thrombophlebitis). Thrombophlebitis during the preceding year, or any evidence of venous incompetence, such as large or symptomatic varicose veins, edema, or skin ulceration, also is disqualifying.

What is Really Happening with Internship Resume Sample for College Students

What is Really Happening with Internship Resume Sample for College Students Well, here are a few samples which should give you a hand. 28 samples offered in total. You dont have to have work experience to get skills. For instance, if youre asking for a job as an administrative assistant, you dont will need to discuss the way your position for a babysitter helped improve your childcare skills, but you might share the way the experience helped you cultivate time management abilities and the capacity to juggle numerous tasks simultaneously. For people that have no experience, staying at your very first job for a couple years is important to create a basis for future success. However, you should also tailor your work search to include choices that fit your abilities. Before starting writing your resume, its important to know the difference and the worth of each. All these premium samples are laid down for your advantage. Most students hit a wall when it regards the expert exp erience section since they just dont have relevant work experience. Usually, education sections land near the base of resumes with hardly any particulars. Getting the Best Internship Resume Sample for College Students Our resume builder (you are able to create your resume here) will offer you tips and examples on the best way to compose your resume summary or another section. PaperCoach will be able to help you with all your papers, so take a look at the moment There are variety of examples and various forms of Free Resume Templates which can be found that may be downloaded free. For more advanced designing, take a look at this article for simple document kostmierung or download totally free templates from Microsoft. Positive Attitude a growing number of employers want candidates whose skills go beyond the work description. You should offer attainable future employers a notion of how you are going to do the job for them. Possessing a job makes it possible to establish incr eased independence when youre confronted with a disability. An excellent internship resume is tailored especially for the job which you desire. New Step by Step Roadmap for Internship Resume Sample for College Students Our resume samples also provide ways to target your resume towards a particular industry or employer. It is by far the most important section of your resume because it offers information about any relevant abilities and accomplishments youve developed to date. Because you will probably have minimum expert experience, dont hesitate to fill your education section with an abundance of information. Students that are in undergraduate education level can use the samples from Undergraduate Student Resume template to acquire a notion of a thorough content when writing a resume to be able to find the interest of the employers. Nevertheless, if youre in a position to study the company you may be applying to and the particular job and its requirements, you might be a lit tle extra daring by writing down a range of the belongings you imagine you can achieve on such a job. If you wish to kick-start your career, landing an internship is just one of the greatest methods to learn, grow, and boost your odds of getting a full-time job down the street. Assuming work experience isnt the juiced up content of your resume, students that are seeking for an internship needs to recognize that this isnt a limitation, but a way for them to obtain the experience they will need to undertake a bigger leap of faith in conditions of their professional future, and possibly receive a full-time job for the longer run. Any candidate applying for a college admission needs to see that the resume is not only a bit of document that reflects the career choices and aims of the candidate, but its reflective of the standard of the candidate. The Nuiances of Internship Resume Sample for College Students The internship titelblatt letter should focus more on what you would like t o do, rather than that which youve done. If possible, have someone from your campus career office, or maybe an alumnus in the area that you want to know more about, look at your resume to make sure you have included as much pertinent information as possible. The good thing is that its possible to compose a strong resume, even when you dont have any direct work experience. Lastly, close your internship cover letter by offering your contact information as well as your urge to work and learn from the organization through an internship prospect. Life, Death, and Internship Resume Sample for College Students Becoming able to get this done in your field is important for landing a wonderful internship see if youre able to do the exact same But just because youre at the start of your career doesnt signify you dont have significant accomplishments to include in your resume. Lets walk through three distinct resumes for different kinds of post-college jobs. To make this happen, you wil l require a sharp resume. What You Need to Do About Internship Resume Sample for College Students Before You Miss Your Chance A in depth education section is the meat of a university student resume, so be certain you dont brush over it. The target audience for these sort of resumes are primarily the persons that are college students or the students that are into medical or engineering fields recently. Expand your objective to include things like a persuasive overview of why youre the ideal internship job candidate. An effective internship resume objective is critical to stand out as the correct internship candidate. Most employers arent expecting you to get extensive experience because an internship is normally the very first experience students have in their area. Crafting a strong graduate resume is not simply important, its mandatory It is advised to show them to individuals who actually have internship experience so youll have a grasp of what it is that they went through to receive the internship. Choose from an assortment of templates and designs, and locate the perfect training internship college credits for you

Customer Disservice a Terminal Case of Airline #8216;Flight of Hand#8217; and Self-Contradiction

Customer Disservice a Terminal Case of Airline 8216Flight of Hand8217 and Self-Contradiction In the 2004 drama-dy The Terminal about an immigrant trapped in an airport for months without a valid passport after his country ceases to exist, Tom Hanks had more fun than I did as I started to write this Sleepless in Haneda report, stuck standing in deserted counters C-D at 430 AM because of a series of airline flight of hand magical transformations comprising bait-and-switch tactics, broken promises, transformations of bookings into cancellations and re-bookings, and contradictory (mis)communications). Note As the night wore on and I wore out, I postponed the rest of the writing until I got to rest (my case).At least Hanks got to hang out with Catherine Zeta-Jones for a while. My sole consolation in the deserted terminal being able to write an article about such legerde-main terminal flight of hand, th umb-in-the eye customer disservice, institutionalized service rep immunity to logic (which I have had a lot to say about lately, including about paralogisms (illogical argumentation) of customer SIRvice and lack of critical listening skills) and what makes it all possible psychologically and organizationally. This time, its about institutionalized contradictions in the airline industry.Now here is the unfoldingrather, the unravelingof the story and its analysis.Yes, You Will and Will Not Be FlyingI had been standing, sitting and squirming in the international terminal at Haneda, Japan for what welches in total to include the next 12 hours, on top of the 9 Id already spent the saatkorn way, and the 3 or so before that spent flying to get here and the additional 3 or so required to finish the journey.(As for which airline this welches, if youve ever flown with it from or to the Philippines, youll immediately recognize it if you havent, well youll recognize it when you try to fly it.)T hat happened because, apparently, 130 AM was and was leidlage my departure time. According to the terminal information officer whom I asked upon arrival at 6 PM, it was and I was instructed to go to my airlines counter at 11 PM but at 11 PM, according to the staff at the counter adjacent to where my airlines staff were supposed to be, but werent, the flight had been cancelled a month before. According to a previous PDF I received confirming my booking, I was leaving at both 130 AM and 350 PM.When I requested a clarification, I got the same double booking PDF and finally got one that said 350. But to be absolutely sure, I askedor thought thats what I was doingmy werber whether it was 130 AM or leid.According to a miscommunication between me and my travel agent, it was confirmed as 130 AM, but according to one of the many, many emails spawned by multiple changes, it wasnt. Finally, according to an email I belatedly received from the airline at 2 AM (possibly delayed by the email serve r), I was informed I would not be flying at 130 AM.All for the purpose of flying a distance, which if covered in a direct flight would amount to 1,813 miles or 3 hours and 56 minutes, instead of the more than 48 hours, and the physical and financial expense of 2 overnights (one totally sleepless)costs compounded by dollops of incredible airline customer service rep illogic and undependability.In the end, I in fact spent a total of 24 hours before arriving at my next stop and another 14 hours before I reached Taipei, with a one-night layover in Manila plus that full 24-hour stand-over in the Haneda Terminal, spent just standing around or sitting like a perched comatose wreck on some forgettable chair.Customer Disservice ContradictionsHow did I get into this fix? Mostly through a series of customer disservice contradictions, including abrupt changes that contradicted previous understandings, customer service staff assurances and denials contradicting themselves and each other, informa tion officers contradicting each other and my otherwise very reliable and helpful travel agent inadvertently giving me contradictory information twice. If I am allowed to regard the unilateral airline changes as contradictions that evolve over time, the list is lengthy.In the end, I felt much as Tom Hanks must have anfangsbuchstabely felt upon hearing that he had a passport, but from a country that no longer exists, i.e., that he did and did not have a passport.Sorted by their patterns and illogic, rather than by chronology, heres my peek into and take on the flight of hand, and sly or utterly inept airline management of contradictions, including my analysis of their motivations and formsDisguise a contradiction as a necessary change When the airline I flew repeatedly and unilaterallyindeed, without exceptioncancelled all of my initial bookings with no consultation or warning, the predictability of the pattern infused the changes with the form of a predictable contradiction, rather than isolated instances of the exigencies of unforeseeable circumstances We will tell you, Yes, you are flying and No, you are not Yes, we will help you No, we will not Yes, your flight has been confirmed No, it has not. The only thing concealing the blatant contradictions was the interval of time between presentation of their components and prefacing it with Theres been a change.However, delaying telling you that 2 + 2 = 5 after telling you that 2 + 2 = 4 does not make the telling any less of a contradiction. Even after it is made to appear to be only a change, rather than a contradiction, knowing in advance that you will be told both means that from the perspective of foreknowledge you will be dealing with a contradiction, to the extent that you know that contradictory propositions will be presented to you, albeit with some seemingly legitimizing interval between their presentation to you.Notice that, despite any Marxist claims to the contrary, it can be argued that not all natura l changes are contradictions and tension A flower smoothly blooms as it should, a banana becomes ripe.But when contradictions mature, as Marx and Engels insisted they historically, economically and socially doe.g., the desire of workers to have a better than subsistence wage and the insistence of serf-driver feudal lords or more modern slave-driver employers that they do not, the result is conflict and tension, not smooth growth and unfolding.Although strictly speaking these kinds of airline changes are not contradictions (because they are packaged as changes), their absolute predictability does make them de facto contradictions. Its like working for a boss who will always and predictably change the goal posts Be sure to include marginal costs in the business plan Limit the cost analysis in the business plan to total and average costs.The difference between the erratic, perhaps flaky boss and the sly, inept or otherwise unreliable airline is that in the case of the boss, the 180-deg ree reversals are probably a reflection of his personality quirks, such as a fear of commitment and failure, whereas in the case of the airlines, they can reflect uneven training, organizational diffusion of misinformation or cynical manipulation (e.g., cancellation of under-subscribed flights, which apparently happens more than the airlines will admit).Im inclined to think it is likelier to be a reflection of a calculation based on self-interest, e.g., cancelling a flight because it is under-booked and cant pay for itself (despite my having been told by an airline rep, as an explanation, that passenger safety is our primary concernwhich, if true, would make reliability of the aircraft or security measures far less predictable than the cancellations).This distinction between abrupt change and contradiction is not merely verbal it has practical consequences, chief among which is that if you view the changes as contradictions, the changes should not surprise you, once you understand t hat the airline is operating dialectically, with your booking being the thesis and the cancellation being its antithesis, in conformity with the characteristic fusion of logical contradiction and dynamic change that is the essence of so-called historical dialectics.For example, consider the concept of bait-and-switch If you think of it as a merely a sneaky, occasional, manipulative change from one offer to another, you will be far more likely to be caught flatfooted and sucked in by the prospect of only occasional victimization.But if youve identified a store or airline or any other enterprise as practicing it as a package, youll understand that from the perpetrating enterprises perspective, this is a policy and that the bait and the switch are inextricably, not contingently or occasionally fused in the way that the cover story of unforeseen change cleverly suggests.Diffuse the responsibility for the contradiction At midnight in the Haneda terminal, I was repeatedly assured by an ai rline agent on the phone with me that one or two of the airlines onsite reps would be coming to help me sort out the mess to avoid being stranded in the terminal. I made my location crystal clearrepeatedly I gave a distinctive physical description of myself, repeatedly.I also made it clear that if no one came, Id be in trouble, because booking a hotel later into the night would become pointless, given the early check-out times of fruchtwein hotels and the late-afternoon check-in times of many.I added that I would not budge from that location (which I did not). Repeatedly, I was assured that they would come. Repeatedly.Two hours later, at around 2 AM, when I tired of photographing the airport clock for the purpose of documentation, no one had come and the remaining airport information officer in my vicinity was unable to make any contact with the airline or any of its staff within the terminal or anywhere else, by any means. Eventually, a second call out was possible to another one o f the airlines agents who then contradicted the first one and said that because I was not in the airlines host country, no help would be made available to me.The sixth contradiction in this protracted customer disservice ordeal unfolded in the days and nights to comeand as an additional abbildung of the use or occurrence of diffuse contradiction Yet another of the airlines reps, handling another leg of my trip, informed me that the rescheduling of yet another abruptly cancelled flight with the same airline had been confirmed by him, but had to be confirmed by email and that the email might or might not be sent within 48 hours.(Although the might or might not part was logically correct, indeed it never came.)As a business tactic or simple failing, this diffusion of responsibility for contradictions is as commonplace as it is lamentable. Customer service rep X says yes customer service rep Y says no. Whether this is an innocent or engineered contradiction, it can effectively blunt a c omplaint by diffusing responsibility for the contradiction.Were the same agent to say yes and no, blame for the contradiction could be imputed to that single source and the contradiction would be addressed and perhaps resolved immediately.But when two or more different agents contradict each other, the resultant confusion is as convenient as it is vexing. Thats because it makes it impossible to blame either or any of the agents, to determine what the actual policy is and therefore whether it has been violated, to get closure, or to easily confirm what was actually said.As a deliberate or accidental version of good-cop-bad-cop or good-broker-bad-broker, this diffusion of customer disservice can be very effective in manipulating clientele, but with the difference that the agent contradiction may be the result of inadequate training and information, whereas the good and bad cops and scammer brokers are always colluding in perfect coordination.Completely ignore or not grasp the contradi ction At around 230 AM the night I was stranded, the same agent who told me I could not be offered help, advised me to proceed to the customer service counterafter I had made it crystal-clear what the time was and that there were no staff to be found by me or the terminal information officer. In effect, the rep was telling me, with apparently incorrigible illogic, Find someone when there is no one around.How did this all turn out? Well, about 40 hours and two overnights later (including one very far south of Taipei), I finally arrived there. As for that flight from Haneda, there was one final contradiction.Apparently I did and did not stay more than the allowed 90 days. According to my travel agent and his calculation for my booking, my trip was exactly 90 days according to the Japanese immigration authorities who detained me it was exactly 91 daysrequiring my detention, completion of various forms and payment of a 4,000 fine (about $40 U.S.).Of course, I wrote to my travel agency ( at three levels of operations and management, i.e., to my agent, his manager and the district manager) about this, to see whether I would be reimbursed, allowing that I would and would not.In the end, that contradiction was deftly avoided.My queries were simply ignored.