A native guy came up to me and asked me about the iPhone 6s plan. I assumed that he was like any other window shoppers who asked plenty of questions in our outlet just to kill time. So I just showed him the plan and briefly explained to him.
As far as I was concerned, the customers who wanted to buy iPhone 6s encountered quite an awful lot of problems. One of them was the unavailability of credit card usage for a transaction, since our credit card machine was faulty, as far as I could remember. Also, the postpaid system was quite often down. Due to the deficiency of the employees' knowledge and skills, we couldn't help those who wanted to register for supplementary lines or auto-billing. It only resorted to proceeding their purchase at Digi main center.
Nonetheless, to my surprise, this guy insisted on buying the iPhone 6s, even though I claimed that we only allowed cash. Although he brought only his credit card, he asked me to wait for him to withdraw the cash from the ATM nearby in the mall. If I was not mistaken, those ATM would charge another 10% for the withdrawal of cash but he seemed not to care much about it. In that case, I asked him to purchase the phone on any other day in the future, he declined kindly and replied to me that he had planned to surprise his daughter with the iPhone as a Christmas gift. Granted that she would not be in Miri after Christmas, he decided to buy it as soon as possible.
Thankfully, the postpaid system was not down by then. I was quite carried away by ecstasy because I had finally had a chance to sell an iPhone 6s once in my life! I hoped I did not pass up this golden opportunity.
So, he came back with a well-loaded wallet and asked me to carry on. I eagerly took the plan booklet to the computer on my senior desk. As she made room for me, I asked her to teach me how to make the purchase of iPhone 6s. I had seen the procedure before so I was quite confident about it. The customer then sat in front of me at the counter.
It was a change of plan, from 48 plan to 50 plan. During the procedure, my senior guided me all along the way. By the time I clicked the 'submit' button, I thought everything was just perfect, and I was quite overwhelmed with a sense of accomplishment. However, everything went down the drain, when Jacky, the new recruit who had just joined in Digi much later than me and was way better than me, came along and looked at my printed documents. He pointed out that I had left the device out of the procedure of changing the plan; it was an oversight. I jolly well knew I would definitely be in the dead shit. I felt the blood drained away from my face. I stood there so rigidly as if I had been struck hard in the face.
My senior who was also caught off guard during the procedure came by after photocopying his ID card and recognized the mistake. She was so calm as though it was nothing to be worried about. It only bugged her when she found out that she could not undo the mistake. We searched for any cancel button or the undo button that could call off the deal, but all the efforts were in vain. My senior did make a call to Digi helpline, but the person on the other end told us to do an adjustment, in which it could take about a few weeks to be completed. The die was cast, and there were no other alternatives.
The customer seemed to acknowledge our panic and asked what all the matter was. I faked a smile, failing in my attempt to be professional, and filled him in that he had changed his offering to 50 plan without purchasing an iPhone 6s. Even for an adjustment, it would take about 2 to 3 weeks. I could sense a dramatic change in his facial expression, from obvious delight to clear-cut upset. The sense of guilt speared my body through, and I could not help apologizing to him umpteen times.
It seemed as if you have broken all the fragile glassware into shreds and shards. Telling them that you were sorry does not help or change anything. The metaphor dawned on me that I had to face the terrible storm ahead of me, no matter what. My brain was shut down and I was riveted to the spot like an erect statue.
'How could you make such a mistake?'
'Aren't you Digi staff?'
'I thought it was all fine, isn't it?'
I braced myself for the blame, come what may; but instead, out of my expectations, he chose to forgive me. I remembered before he went off, he still held the slightest ray of hope that there were some solutions to the slipshod mistake I had made. Masking all my hangdog look with indifference, I replied to him with a flat-out no. His face was laden with so much disappointment. It was bucketing down on me.
I could not even condone my unforgivable mistake. How unacceptable it was for me to excessively overestimate myself, and to not even double check the procedure. I felt so sorry for the guy and his daughter. Not only was I whipped by a twinge of regret, but I was actually so painfully ashamed of myself. I came to realize that he was actually entitled to redress for what I had done, but he rather chose not to do so and opted to forgive me. That was why I could not get over it.
Imagine this: You were a pilot. Given a technical mistake you had made, you took the wrong direction and caused an inconvenient delay to the flight, or to the whole airplane system. The gravity of making a mistake is even more prominent in a case at which you were a surgeon. During a surgery, you slipped up by accidentally cutting off one of the patient's main arteries, and this leads to the person's death. As a result, not only were you liable for the person's death but were also responsible for his family's loss.
It was hard to measure the depth of guilt when you thought you could help but in the end, the stupid mistake you made had nothing to help the situation as to get any better, but to take its toll on the person who was in urgent need.
Sometimes I do hope there's a cancel or undo button where I can just undo every mistake I made in my life, to perfect flaws that come about. But the thing is, life doesn't give you an undo button, even though the world stigmatizes mistakes. I believe chances are given to people who are always prepared to grab them, not people who make mistakes and blow them away.
I guess the pang of guilt seared my mind, reminding myself how important it is to learn from mistakes and not to repeat them.
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