I have learned from my office mate about a promotion offered to home mortgaged owners on how to avail for lower interest rate per year for the housing loan, especially for those who have been paying for the loan for 3 years and up. Upon learning about it, I promptly visited the agency to inquire more about the requirements. One of the requirements needed was a written copy of my monthly contributions which were deducted automatically from my pay slip. I was instructed to get it from another person in charge which was located on the 3rd floor of their building. I really wanted to avail it, so I followed all the instructions without further questions. The lady in charge gave me the copy of my contributions after a few minutes of waiting. When she handed me the copy, she told me my employer wasn’t submitting my contributions since 2015. Seriously!
Frankly, I was shocked by what she said. I couldn’t believe it! My employer has always been prompt in processing our contributions. I contacted our Human Resource Department and they printed me a copy of my COMPLETE contribution from the moment I got hired.
The following day, I went back to the agency and gave my printed copy to dispute their record. When I came to their office, another officer was in charge entertaining another client. I saw the officer was very pleasant in answering the client’s questions. I sat on one of the vacant chairs in their waiting area, waiting for them to finish.
While waiting, I got hooked watching the client wearing an expensive looking designer clothes matched with her powerful red stilettos .Wow, she looked stunning! Then I started comparing her to how I dressed myself on that day. I was wearing my old tight faded jeans paired with my simple plain white shirt with no makeup look. I looked so haggard. But I went there for another purpose anyway. This was how I consoled myself for looking so exhausted .
When it was finally my turn, I told the officer I was applying for repricing of my existing house loan but my contributions wasn’t showing correctly on their record. The atmosphere on the way the officer responded suddenly became cold. She listened to my concern with no trace of smile in her face. The first question she asked me was, “This is for a past due account and you haven’t paid for months now, right?” With a deadpan face I replied, “NO.” She added another question which irked me more when she asked, “Is this for a foreclosure housing loan?” I was really trying to compose myself not to burst my irritation with her blunt style of questioning clients. I explained to her my concern detail by detail to stop her from asking ill-mannered questions. After the long discussion, the error was corrected and I was approved for the promotion I availed for.
On my way home, I was trying to understand about how I was treated. Perhaps the treatment I received could be related to the way I presented myself on how I dressed. Some people will base their treatment depending on someone’s outfit of the day. If they can see you wearing expensive looking attire, they’ll treat you nicely thinking you are well off. Yes, it is UNFAIR but that’s the harsh reality. Treatment is sometimes directly proportional to your status in life.
Lesson learned: If you will be dealing with any transactions to any business or government agency, make sure to dress well. You’ll never know to whom you will be meeting to. I need to often dress up nicely then. I don’t look like a past due payer on these outfits right?(wink).
