Old Hat Editorial
In today’s cautious and litigious society, it is imperative to avoid providing a direct answer, no matter what the question. In order to facilitate the process of sidestepping any verbal communication, certain words have crept into the lexicon and these may be trotted out strategically. As an example, we may consider the following hypothetical telephone call to, say, the Department for Abandoned Shopping Trolleys. “Good morning. May I speak to someone about abandoned shopping trolleys please?” “I’m sorry. That issue is covered by our privacy policy.” “Privacy? But I just want it removed from my fish pond.” “Fish pond? Oh, that would be a safety issue. We cannot comment on safety issues until the appropriate authorities have been notified and measures put in place to ensure the safety of all concerned.”
“The only ones concerned are my goldfish. This trolley is blocking their habitat and they are becoming quite concerned for their welfare.” “Welfare concerns are covered by our security policy.” “What security policy? We are talking about fish and a shopping trolley. Who can I speak to about this?” “I’m sorry, but our confidentiality policy prevents us from releasing individual names.” “All right. Give me an address and I will write to the appropriate department.” “I’m sorry, but I am not authorised to release departmental information.” “Are you telling me there is no way I can report this abandoned shopping trolley?” “I am not authorised to comment on that, sir. You will need to speak to someone in the appropriate department.” “And who would that be?” “I’m sorry. That information is subject to our privacy policy.” Here you see a demonstration of the systems in place to protect our workforce from bullying and harassment, gender bias and racism by the general public. Certainly, it can start innocently enough with what would initially appear to be an innocuous question about abandoned shopping trolleys, but by letting down one’s guard and providing direct answers to such enquiries, the door is left wide open to manipulation of the subject leading to possible serious breaches of matters of national security, personal attack, infiltration of privacy, violation of confidentiality and gross endangerment of individuals and groups of well meaning citizens and employees.
Clearly, this shows that it is vital to avoid any form of verbal intercourse unless the proponent and recipient are personally known to each other and have undertaken the appropriate training in matters of safety, security, privacy and confidentially. And please stay on the line for a short survey which will only take approximately 45 minutes. We value your feedback.