I was the first official employee of the TDC when it was established to market product T&T, coming out of TIDCO. I had the honour of working alongside the newly-hired receptionist/telephone operator who remained in that position for approximately ten years. It was plain to see that she was much more than her position required.
In those days the TDC’s chairman was the most honourable man have ever worked for and when it came to staff events under his stewardship, costs were kept to basics. That did not stop the lowly telephone receptionist from being part of a committee that came up with the most exciting events for birthdays and local holidays.
Those born in the month of April, as I am, were put into the training room to await our birthday “party!” We got a trip to Mexico. The committee made a plane and put pictures of the birthday gals and guys in the windows waving goodbye. They borrowed a flag from the Mexican Embassy and made a cake with the flag’s colours. Ponchos were made with cheap fabric and all birthday boys and girls wore them with pride.
Then there was the invisible telephone operator/receptionist as the “barefoot contessa” serving at another TDC in-house event using its high tables and chairs to create an outdoor cafe in France. How I long for those days when our dear colleague was able to transform our limited space into another part of the world using little more than scraps!
Can anyone imagine my horror then, to read in the newspaper, the new line minister referring to my former colleague going from telephone operator to marketing specialist as if there were not ten years of experience and training in between?
I felt such pride when by chance I met three students of Servol travelling on the same maxi as me talking about the lecture they got from TDC that morning and how inspired they were about the lecture and how it made them want more to study tourism even more.
That lecture, Madam Minister, was presented by the same lowly telephone operator/receptionist you should be so honoured to call a marketing specialist selling product T&T.
Please do the right thing by getting all the facts and then apologise to my former colleague. If the TDC was a big organisation then people would have to guess who you referred to. Unfortunately, the TDC has had the same Telephone operator/receptionist since its inception until recently and we all know who she is.
Please, put her to the test, walk up to her and I can assure you that you would receive the brightest “Welcome to the TDC!”
C Maharaj,
Maraval