Originally Posted by
Northstar
This is difficult to convey in writing, but in all these cases I don't see acting in a "Te" manner, rather in every interaction I try to be friendly and "sugar-coat" the request instead of bluntly bossing people. I find that people are much more likely to do as you want if you act like you're on their side, agreeing that their policies are stupid but understanding that they're just cogs in the machine that don't want to get in trouble. Being kind of conspiratorial but still very firm, not even expecting a refusal. Then if this approach completely fails, I'll get blunt and hostile. Like in another case where they said they would refuse to release my car without doing a software calibration (liability issues, but nothing I cared about personally) first but that it might fail and take days to resolve. Then I told the guy that it's my car and I'm taking it now whether he likes it or not. In that case they solved the software issue quickly and there was no need for conflict - we parted in friendly terms, with me thanking him for a job well done (as it truly was). But I don't take no for an answer.