Customer Scare Centers

CCC – Customer Care Center, CCE – Customer Care Executive

Sam stays in Bangalore, he wanted to apply for a new broadband connection for his home in Goa. He called a CCC number found on the Airtel website to inquire about the service.

(call to Airtel CCC)
Sam: Hello, Could you tell me if Airtel broadband service is available in Goa?
CCE: Just a min Sir.
CCE: Ha ha! You are calling Airtel Karnataka helpline and asking about connection in Goa. How am I suppose to know that Sir?
(Stumped! Sam didn’t expect the CCE guy to ridicule him this way)
Sam: Oh! Can you give me the Goa Customer Service number?
CCE: Just a min Sir.

(call to Airtel CCC)
Sam: Hello, Could you tell me whether Airtel broadband service is available in Goa?
CCE: Sir, Your good name please.
Sam: Sam D’silva.
CCE: Thank you sir. Can I have the number from which your are calling.
Sam: (gave the number)
CCE: I see that this is a Karnataka Vodafone number.
Sam: I just want to know about the availability of Airtel broadband.
CCE: But you are calling from Karnataka Sir.
Sam: Yes! I am.
Sam: Where is your call center located?
CCE: Pune.
(Goa & Maharastra come under same telecom service circle)
Sam: I just need to know whether…
CCE: You are calling from Karnataka and asking about broadband in Goa sir. You should call the Karnataka customer service center.
Sam: I called them, they told me to call you, infact I got your number from them.
CCE: But I can’t tell you about the availability of service in Goa sir.
Sam: Then who should I ask?
CCE: How can you get Airtel broadband if you have a Vodafone number?
Sam: (trying to be extremely polite and clear) Ok! Ok! If I take a new Airtel connection in Goa can I get broadband over it?
CCE: How can I know that sir? Since you are calling from a Vodafone number you should be calling the Karnataka Vodafone customer service center.
(He actually said this)
Sam: What???
CCE: Can I assist you with anything more?
Sam: No. Thank You.

(This is a transcript of an actual conversation which definitely did not take place on April 1st)

“Companies are using their customer care centers to scare away consumer from complaining”, says Prof. Pitu.

“Companies are spending their money in signing movie and sports stars and buying ad space rather than investing in training of their CCEs and improving their products. Companies are saving money by reducing call center work force and hiring CCEs with sub-zero IQ. By deterring customer complaints the CEOs create an illusion that no one complains, they have a great product. Time for a salary hike.”

Researchers at Pitu labs conducted a test to find what actually happens when a customer realizes that he/she is about to call a CCC.

About a thousand students from University of Krokosia (remember the movie The Terminal?) participated in the test.
1st the subjects were shown pictures of Snakes, Insects, burn victims, and clips from Ring (I and II), Raaz (II) and their brain activity was recorded. Later each subject was told to write down which pictures/clips they found scary.

Eight days later, all the participants were called again to the test center and were told that Pitu Labs would pay each of them Rs 1000 for participating in the experiment, but the condition is that they should call the Pitu Labs customer service center, get through the IVR and reach the CCE, give their personal details, preferred mode of payment and bank details. And this exercise should be repeated every day until they receive the amount.
Their brain activity was recorded again.

When the researchers used the software to compare the brain activity patterns in Case I and Case II, what did they discover?
The mere thought of calling the CCC created the same type of activity in the brain as the feeling of fear did in Case I.

Have you been through such horror?

The Caterer's Algorithm

“India is unhurt by the recession, we still pay Rs. 30 for our meal”, one student said with a grin and others agreed with positive notes.

“It has been the same price for last 2 years”, student2.

“But, how is this possible yaar? Fuel and vegetable prices have gone up”, student3.

“All restaurants in the city have reprinted their menus with increased prices”, student4.

The question is - how can this caterer operate at old prices? Additionally, the caterer supplied food to a number of organizations and in mass quantities.

We as a perplexed lot turn to Prof. Pitu.

The following is the paraphrasing of the recount by the Professor.

I call it 'The Caterer's Algorithm'. It is something they won't be teaching you in the MBA schools.

This name was coined after a caterer implemented a strategy to make huge profits at same prices. The following incident happened for real at an educational institute, infact it so real that I have to protect the identity of the institute and the caterer. Let me call the institute - ‘SIHS’ (Some Institute of Higher Studies), and the caterer - 'Ramu caterers'.

SIHS had over 500 students, and a fully residential campus. Ramu Caterers ran a mess (for meals) and a canteen(for tea and snacks).

At that time the country was sinking in a economic turmoil - prices of all commodities were up, inflation was at 12.25%, companies were downsizing, startups were shutting, banks were filing for bankruptcy, and millions of young college passouts were left jobless.

Ramu had to make his business survive, he had 30 employees and served orders at more than 10 organizations (including the illfated SIHS).

And Ramu saved it all by his own, without hiring any of our MBA buddies.

Being a very organized algorithm there are different strategies for canteen and mess management.

Ramu implemented the follow strategy for his canteen.

1) He hired Shantanu – a semi literate guy in his 20s who only understood the local language to serve tea/coffee. Shantanu was told to underfill the cups by about 20%, a well calculated limit. Shantanu was a face well chosen.

2) Most students did not realize the decrease in quantity. Incase anyone complained, Ramu would intervene and apologize to the customer saying, “Sorry bhai, he is new. He does not know how we deal here.” To finish with, he rebuked Shantanu, “Arey, fill the cups properly. This is our special customer”.

3) Ramu realized that the customer complained only 15% of the time. Considering the canteen sold about 1000 cups of tea/coffee every day, the ignorant-acting Shantanu saved him about 150 cups. That’s Rs. 750/day and Rs. 22500/month.

4) When one student threatened to complain to the food committee, Ramu put the entire blame on Shantanu and fired him. Shantanu was replaced by another guy who was told to execute the same algorithm with other products, e.g. milk shakes, sandwiches. This cycle continued, with the server and the food items changing each time.

As SIHS had students from all over the country, Ramu had to serve north Indian as well as south India dishes. Two cuisines meant increase in the number of dishes. Ramu adopted a simple mantra – the quality should ensured that everyone was equally unhappy and abstained from eating.

1) At the start of the semester (2-3 weeks) he served good food and secured the contract for the entire sem.

2) Then on, he deliberately prepared bad food from the cheapest vegetables available in city. He did not hesitate to make the same dishes all 7 days of the week.

3) Observing this pattern, many students got frustrated and started surviving on snacks (boosting ramu's canteen business) or began to eat out of campus.

4) At this stage, Ramu started preparing food only for 200 students, but he got paid for 500, as the institute rule was if a student subscribes he/she pay for all meals. The mess bill always remained a constant. Ramu's extra income was 300*30*60 = Rs. 5,40,000/month.

5) As a precautionary act Ramu cooked some good dishes, and nutritious vegetables 2-3 times a week. But again, he had to cook for 200 plates only. He tactfully selected these days on random, students had already planned to skip meals or eat out.

6) The fact that almost all students had seen 'Rang De Basanti' (Zindagi jeene ke do tarike hote hai, jo hota hai hone do, dekhte raho ya use badalne ki jemmedari lo) made a cover-up plan a high priority. Ramu paid special attention to the likes/dislikes of the food committee members and maintained a good repo with them to subdue any complain or retaliation. Additionally, he greeted them in local language, and played local FM channels whenever possible.

There was no danger from the Professors/Staff as most of them got tiffins from home or had enough money to eat at the good restaurants. Infact SIHS management had the view, “Why should we change the caterer, he is serving quality food as reasonable prices. He's the best for our students”

Since SIHS conducts masters courses only, every batch finished in 2 years, and a new one joined every June. Ramu could continue his algorithm for years until a student discovered it, analyzed and rationalized its different aspects and presented it as the final sem thesis.

The use of this algorithm is perfectly legal, as there is no law against keeping 20% of the cup empty. Additionally, our constitution does not define the term “Bad Food”.

This was the caterer's algorithm. Simple, ingenious and effective. Today Ramu works as a consultant to the World Bank, he is involved in passing loan proposals and in several micro-finance programs in developing countries.

All you wanted to know about making big money

Hello All. I am writing a book ‘All You Wanted to Know About Making Big Money’. Well! I confess I don’t know everything about making money yet, but jo hai usi se kaam chala luknga. I am hoping the title will attract readers and make them believe that it will change their lives financially or atleast that they will gain the esoteric treasure of uncommon knowledge which the exceedingly pitiable nonreaders wont.

I may not be wealthy or employed, but I almost got two of my friends rich, very very rich. Only problem was that they didn’t accept the massively lucrative plans I had for them. My book will list these anecdotes. Anecdotes will earn me credibly and make the readers realize how miserable things get when I am not listened to.

What if my methods don’t succeed in earning big cash for the readers? To begin with, most of my readers will be from the ‘I am unfortunate’, ‘I don’t want to take risks’ and ‘Someone please help me’ classes. These people often blame their own misfortune and attitudes for things going wrong.

I will keep the style simple and will use the GRE vocabulary only sparingly. This is because most of the people who buy self help books are poor at English and often low on confidence. You may be wondering how many copies will sell. Friends! The real money and fame is in the lecture circuit (as Dilbert once said). I have got it all planned out. I have about a dozen friends who blog regularly and have a significant readership. One friend runs an online magazine called Blogloid. I will get positive reviews written from them, and their posts will also feature an 800*600 pixel image of the front cover.
Voila! You will be able to google out my great piece of work.

Hundreds of MBA institutes have mushroomed in our country in the last 10 years or so. To prove that they are good enough they want action, they want visibility, they want space in the papers. There is a good chance that many of these institutes will invite me to lecture their students; I may get a position as a visiting faculty.

Some of the MBA institutes may award me; example would be Chintulal Khaspitiya Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship’s author of the year, and Sri Sri Pandit Raghunath Vishwa Swami School of Business Management’s award for valuable contribution in the field of business writing. I like awards, specially the ones with long funny names. I would get to write columns in local newspapers too. The possibilities are limitless.

Kindly leave you email or phone number in the comments to get entitled for a free copy of ‘All You Wanted to Know About Making Big Money’.

For now wish me ‘Good Luck’.

Conversations

The real issues faced by real people

27th Jan 2008, at Dona Poula, Goa
Raghu: Every time I see you, your belly seems to have grown. (Tapping on Rajesh’s stomach)
Rajesh: This proves that “Poor India, Hungry India” is a myth.
Rajesh: Nice too see you after a long time.
…
…
Raghu: What are your career plans?
Rajesh: Can’t say yaar. Right now I am awaiting an onsite trip.
Raghu: Nice. Which place and how long?
Rajesh: UK. Can’t say how long, they said it can be between 10-15 months.
Raghu: How about starting your own software firm some day?
Rajesh: That’s a good thought yaar. But starting a company and getting clients needs a very organized setup. I don’t have much business sense anyways.
Raghu: We just need to built a internet product to solve some existing problem. The funding, business plan and mentoring can come from an incubator or a VC.
Rajesh: This works in US and Europe yaar.
Raghu: Now it works in India too. Entrepreneurship is encouraged by educational and financial institution. Indians are starting their own businesses in a big way.
Rajesh: One has to be born special to get in the league of Gates and Jobs. (grins)
Rajesh: I just can’t imagine myself in that scenario. Currently I am getting good responsiblies in office; I have been working hard and just started receiving the appreciation. Should get promoted to a software architect in a year. I am working on a niche technology; an architect has a great demand in job market.


3rd July 2008, over Gtalk
…
…
Vicky: I work like a dog and still seriously underpaid man.
Raghu: You should consider switching. Send me your resume. I shall forward it to my friends here.
Vicky: Oh yes. I need to prepare it this weekend. Can you send me a good resume format?
Raghu: Definitely. I shall email you some templates I downloaded, plus my resume.
Raghu: What are your long term career plans?
Vicky: I am thinking of doing MBA in coming years. Didn’t get to prepare this time. Should try for CAT, XAT next year.
Raghu: From s/w to MBA? That’s a diametric shift.
Vicky: I liked C, they put me on Java. I wanted Sql, they put me on web services. Can’t take those objects, exceptions and error codes for 16 hours a day anymore. MBA has good money and a job guarantee. My manager, a MBA, relishes company sponsored car, foreign trips, and a lavish life. I have to slog over the weekends while he is enjoying meals with his family.
Raghu: How about we starting our own firm and becoming our own bosses?
Vicky: Own business??
Raghu: Yup! There is money and glory in it.
Vicky: I am not sure man. If I do a MBA I will get a well paying Job. It’s a totally different future then on. Leaving a job for business! It won’t work for me.


5th Oct 2008, over the Phone
…
…
Shyam : Just back from Mumbai this Monday. Had critical family discussons.
Raghu: You remember the conversation we had at your place last year?
Shyam : Well! A lot of things have changed since then. Radhika’s family is pressing us for marriage, as she is 25 already.
Shyam : I am expected to get financially stable. I have purchased a flat here in Pune. The EMI is 21K. My parents say I need to have savings of around 6 Lakhs before I can tie the knot.
Raghu: Oh! A lot happening huh.
Shyam : At times I get exhausted only by pondering and planning for the future. A internet startup was my dream, but the situation I am in, I can’t afford to quit my day job and join you. It’s impossible.
Shyam: If you go ahead you have my moral support, I can even contribute working on weekends. But a full time commitment is not feasible.


9th Oct 2008, at Kormangala, Bangalore
Aurang: Wish you a happy Dassra.
Raghu: Wish you too. I can feel the festive mood in the air.
…
…
Raghu: No better day then Dassra to talk about starting our own company.
Raghu: Did you evaluate the business plan I emailed you last night?
Aurang: It’s a wonderful idea. Only a brain like you can think so. I am telling you, if you start it's going to be big.
Raghu: You graduating coming June right? How if you join us? We need a team.
Aurang: Thanks for the offer. But I really can’t think of getting into a startup. I have taken a loan of 6 Lakhs for my MBA course. Moreover, my dad retired from service last year.
Raghu: Look at it. This is the best time to start; funding and mentoring is available, broadband internet is reaching even the smaller cities and 3G to be launched in 2009. People here have the jobs and the money. It's the time to build products for Indian customers.
Aurang: What you say may be true but my 1st priority is to recover my investment in MBA and support my family financially.
Aurang: The placement drive begins this December and with the 3 yrs of work experience behind me I am hoping to earn a 10L plus offer.

Towards the Green Flames

In the past 1 yr or more I have come across many blogs and news articles on global warming, renewable energy and eco-friendly processes.

I am a frequent visitor to http://earth2tech.com/ and http://www.sciam.com/energy. It is impressive to see so much work going on in building alternate fuels. Other news stories discuss eco-tourism, energy-efficient buildings, waste-management and other concepts which require a ‘hyphen’. Even Goa government has plans for green-tourism.

For once humans have learnt to care for their environment.

Some two years back bio-diesel was seen as a green alternative to fossil fuel. But we have learnt that the process of creating this alternative inturn add substantial amount of CO₂, and requires large energy input to grow the crops. One documentary on Net-Geo showed how vast forests were depleted in Indonesia to produce palm-oil to be supplied to Europe and America for bio-diesel production.

Fuel-cell powered cars are not currently viable as the hydrogen required is not freely available and the process of producing hydrogen is mentioned to be highly polluting. Additionally the cost of these vehicles is very high.

Electric vehicles get a thumb-down for their low speeds and battery charging times.

Hybrid vehicles are not really an alternative looking a decade into the future, as one of the engines is a conventional hydrocarbon powered ICE.

An electric engine cannot be said to be 100% pollution free. The electricity could be coming from burning coal. Hydro-electricity is clean but the dams built require thousands of tonnes of cement, and often thousands of hectares of forest and farm land get submerged under the dam water.

Solar power by far appears as the cleanest and safest. Either sunlight is used to generate electricity by solar-cells or solar heat is concentrated [using parabolic-reflectors/mirrors] and used in power stations. The energy conversion ratio in solar-cells still remains low, and there are only 2 major solar power stations in operation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6616651.stm

Wind power is another clean alternative. But there are social issues with setting up large wind-mills. The following link lists some successful and failed projects.
http://ecoworldly.com/2008/08/20/13-magnificent-renewable-energy-successes-and-failures/

We realise that humans can’t do without constructing buildings, machines, roads; and industrialization. These are essential for sustaining the basic quality of life, leave aside improving it. But these are the activities whose execution is threatening the existence of life itself.

I would base my writing on known facts and common sense [with the order not being important]. Some of the ideas proposed below could be superficial or good ones which could have been written about elsewhere.

The CO₂ emitted from industries, which constitutes about 17% of total green house emissions, could be used to produce substances which can be a replacement to cement. Producing cement is highly polluting - makes up 3% of the CO₂ emitted from burning of fossil fuels, and an energy consuming process.

Methane is a green house gas. Now imagine a sphere of sponge like material floating in the sky a few hundred meters above the ground. The material will be such that it absorbs few tonnes of methane. This could be extracted as fuel. Same treatment can be given to Nitrous Oxide and CFCs.

The disposed plastics, which are ubiquitous, could be converted to a substance to be used in building roads and in civil constructions.

Human and animal waste should be probed to extract chemicals which could be used in making, say, paints and medicines.

Hydrogen for fuel cell could come from the bacterial decomposition of industrial waste.

The salinity difference between sea water and river water at the conjunction could be exploited to generate electric current. Similar with the salinity difference at different depths in the sea. I learnt in high school that electrons flow whenever there is a difference in potential.

The aluminium panels covering facades of building absorb heat during day. This heat could be used to generate electric current through thermoelectric effect. Alternatively the heat could be used directly to heat water for domestic use. This will also reduce the heating of the building resulting in decrease in cooling needs.

High speed trains which can cover upto 300 kms/hr could be put into service to reduce dependencies on airplanes for long distance travel [Anyone saying a ‘no’ to a 3 hrs Bangalore-Mumbai train trip?]. Trains are far less polluting than airplanes, and consume less fuel per-passenger per-mile.
http://www.seat61.com/CO2flights.htm

A flat device at deep sea bottom could convert the potential energy due to the weight of the water into some usable form. Imagine the vastness of the seas; this could be an inexhaustible energy source.
The waves and tides which are everlasting and continuous could be used to drive turbines.

The earth’s magnetic force could be used to do useful work or the heat beneath the earth’s crust could be unleashed for generating electricity. Tornados, and the cyclones which hit the east-cost of India every year could be harnesses for energy, possibly reducing their destructive tendency.

As we understand the green-energies won’t be here to replace the convention fossil fuels ones until a decade or two. Some countries have declared to obtain 20% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020 [UK is said to be seriously lagging behind on this resolution ready].

The times ahead may be long and difficult but promise a greener, cleaner future.

The Story of Naugad

In an alternate world far-far away there’s a country of a million ‘Naugadvasis’. A few hundred years ago Naugad was the economic and cultural hub of the alternate world – a land blessed with natural resources and the technical advancements brought about by its efficacious people. Then a calamity struck - the ancestors in the charm of joy and prosperity failed to submit the ‘Speroid of Susakchet’ to the fires of the two-tower volcano. The prosperity collapsed and the glorious era came to an end.

In the years that followed Naugadvasis lost their technological headway; vast lands turned barren, rivers changed their paths wiping towns and eroding mountains. Every disease known to mankind showed itself in the people. Naugadvasis got lost in a sea of poverty, corruption, and misery.

A few hundred years under this curse and Naugad saw a ray of hope, but Naugadvasis thought it was the new sun itself. Electronic machines called computers had been invented in the land called Mordor. The inhabitants of Gordor and Rohan lands also used these machines extensively and were dependent on them. Naugadvasis found a fortune in writing software for the machines. They could develop it much faster and at lower costs. The Naugad economy picked-up, its citizens could find jobs in thousands as software developers. The benefits transgressed to other sectors too; the healthcare facilities and public infrastructure improved. Naugad was once again under focus – the way it had been before the ancestors committed the mistake.

One thought that the spell of the curse was over. Software development became the most aspired occupation of its people. Bright minds which could have otherwise worked in the fields of chemistry, nuclear physics, pharmacy, medicine, mechanics shifted to software for the easy jobs, higher pays and foreign trips. The leaders of Naugad encouraged this by letting more institutes of software technology to setup and by setting software firms free from tax.

Individuals who didn’t have any aptitude for computer science started taking positions in software companies which needed them in tens of thousands. Consequently the quality of deliverables decreased, project management grew difficult; and Mr. Pareto came at every large glass window to preach his 80:20 principle. Life for the deserving developers became laborious – doing 80% of the work and correction defects introduced by the rest 80% of the under-performers.

Meanwhile other countries like Chunalgad, Vatika, Subedha learnt the art of software development and gave Naugad a tough competition. This resulted in the decrease in salaries, poor working conditions, and increase in the workload. On the other hand Mordor, Gordor, Rohan benefited from the low cost software and had their funds and people in the direction of new chemical compounds, hybrid automobiles, mass transportation, renewable energy, synthetic food, nanotechnology, space-energy efficient microprocessors, waste recycling, water harvesting and other desperately needed technologies.

Mordor invented an electric car which has running costs of $0.005/Km; and a 99% safe radioactive waste disposal system. A Gordorian company discovered the formula for synthetic food for farm-animals and pets. Rohan invented bacteria which converts bio-waste into hydrogen, a solar power plant, and built a train which crossed the 500kms/hr bar.

Naugad needs all the above items, for sustaining its economy and maintaining the quality of life of its citizens. But it continues to sleep in its software dream.

Stupid is as Stupid Does

To begin with let’s look at what some of the great minds had to say about human stupidity.

Albert Einstein: “Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds.”

Albert Einstein: “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”

Aldous Huxley: “At least two thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity”.

Konrad Adenauer: “In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that he did not also limit his stupidity.”

Voltaire: “The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean by Infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity.”

Frank Zappa: “There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life.”

George Bernard Shaw: “When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.”

Why did these famous individuals take time to comment on human stupidity?
My belief is because stupidity is everywhere and so are stupids. The proverb “Every village has its stupids” reemphasizes that wherever you go you will find them.
Like entropy stupidity in the universe must only be increasing.

You must have heard the saying “If you want something to be done right, do it yourself”. Atleast I have. If the job lands in the hands of a moron it could be messed-up big time.

When I was in class 7 our Hindi teacher gave us homework to write an essay on the theme “Samudra kinare pe ek ghanta”. Students wrote about collecting sea-shells, playing football, a picnic and similar events on the beach. One student was confused; ‘ghanta’ meant ‘an hour’ or ‘a bell’. He wrote about himself finding a bell on the beach. The teacher read out his submission and the entire class had a riot. This incident became so popular that students teased him ‘ghanta’, and eventually that became his nickname. Even today my schoolmates say on the phone, “Can I speak to ghanta?”

During my college days once we had a group assignment to solve a crossword. The class was divided into 8 teams. Students got busy discussing, arguing, thinking, and searching clues on notebooks and on the net. A teammate who set behind me kept bothering the rest of us, “What does (5,3) mean”, “What is 11 down?”, “5 across?”, “What’s 2 down?”, “Do you know 10 across?”. He did this the entire 15mins that my team took to solve the puzzle; irritating and disturbing our concentration. We lost time and were the 4th to finish.

A friend of mine once told me about one of his project meetings. A lady was told to program the ‘user registration’ module and submit it fully tested. When asked why the module allowed more than 1 user to take the same username she argued that when the passwords are different there is no need for checking for same username. She spent the next 10mins explaining how the probability of two users having the same password is microscopic.

A TV news report said that farmers in a remote village in Maharastra suspected the newly installed windmills for lack of rainfall. An opposition MLA was shown saying that the rains had reduced since the installation of the windmill, the windmills must be driving the clouds away.
Some individuals choose to act stupid.

The ‘Ergonomics and Economics 2007’ report prepared by Pitu labs says that in software industry each high performing developer spends 20% of his office-time in arguments with stupids; making them understand concepts or correcting their mistakes. The report further says that 45% of the project maintenance is fixing defects.

Don’t you wonder how come stupids reach universities or find jobs?
There must be some stupids already in the government agencies, HR departments of private companies and in universities who recruit or accept new stupids in their organizations. This way the cycle continues.

When smart people are busy finding solutions to problems and working effectively, stupids are engaged in finding shortcuts to the top. Most of them eventually get into politics and rule us. This explains the current state-of-affairs and the reason why governments can’t set things right.

Is case of ambiguity a stupid will choose the most incorrect, meaningless and unsafe option. And usually he/she would do this after hours of senseless thinking and useless analysis.

Discussing stupidity or mocking at stupids over the coffee table could be fun; but imagine the catastrophe that could occur due to stupid action at a nuclear power station, active war zone, submarine, construction site or a mine. Actually difficult to imagine, because stupids often cross all limits to do the unthinkable.

We have all behaved stupid at some time or the other. This may happen due to ignorance, lack of alertness, or sheer bad luck; but for some individuals stupidity is the way of life.

It’s possible to make a thing fool-proof but not stupid-proof.