Advocate for yourself

Today I checked in at the Apple store to pick up an an online order. “I’m here to pick up an Apple Watch,” I told the attendant. They walked me to the back of a long line. This was not the most organized queue, and frenetic chatter amongst the store manager and staff didn’t exactly instill much confidence. Over the next hour multiple staff members asked me what I was picking up, to which I offered the same response: “an Apple watch.” Finally I hear someone explain to someone else in line that this long queue I’d been in placed in was specifically for people picking up the new iPhone. I walk up to an employee, tell them that I believe I was placed in the wrong line, they realize their mistake, and finally let me into the store. The employees are incentivized to listen to their boss who, in this case, does not know what they were doing. My incentive is to get in and out as quickly as possible as I can go about the rest of my day. Had I not said anything, I probably would’ve waited another hour at the very least. When a situation fails you, the people around may not be sufficiently equipped, informed, or motivated to do anything about it. You can sit there and hope they figure something out for you. Or you can advocate for yourself to make sure that they do. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit williamliao.substack.com