Page 128 - The Voice of Authority

and running out of water at the dome, plans in works
to address the critical need.
FEMA staff is OK and holding own. DMAT staff
working in deplorable conditions. The sooner we can
get the medical patients out, the sooner we can get
them out.
Phone connectivity impossible.
More later.
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

Mike Brown’s e-mailed response—his full response:

Thanks for the update. Anything specific I need to do
or tweak?

Granted, we don’t know of other e-mails previously
sent. But what is certainly lacking in this response was con-
cern—a response for which he was widely criticized.
Yet consider the irony of the following corporate clichés
delivered to customers and employees every day:

“Your call is important to us. Please hold for the next
available representative. The wait from this point is
approximately 30 minutes. Please do not hang up and
redial. This will only delay your call.”

“Please sign in, update your insurance information,
and be seated. Your name will be called when the doc-
tor is ready to see you.”
“Please fill out the survey and provide us with your
feedback. Someone will get back to you shortly.”
“Due to our current restructuring plans, it has be-
come necessary to outplace 550 employees to right-

116 The Voice of Authority