At The Rome Café (Short Story)

 

Megumi sat at the table in the little café in Rome, waiting for the others in her dinner group to arrive. They had arranged to meet at 6:00 pm and so far she was the only there. She took another sip of tea from her cup and looked at her watch. It was 5:45 pm. She wondered where the others could be. Being Japanese, she believed in being punctual, especially for business meetings like this one, since it gave a favorable appearance and appearance was very important. She and the others in her group were all project managers for big corporations, and they were working together to create a website for project managers around the world. It was a very important project. She wondered, didn’t the others care about being late and how it made them look?

Time ticked by. Megumi loomed over her notes again to make sure she was correct about what they had agreed on for the meeting. Supposedly they were only meeting to confirm what they had agreed on in their telephone calls. There should be no surprises.

The door opened as the clock struck 6:00 and a tall man with white hair walked in. Megumi started to rise and greet him, believing it was Tim, one of her group, but she wasn’t sure and didn’t want to embarrass herself. But the man walked straight toward her with a smile, and she remembered that she had sent Tim a picture of herself so he’d know what she looked like.

Tim, a German man who was familiar with Rome and who’d recommended the café, greeted her and held out his hand for a handshake while Megumi offered him a small bow. Tim, feeling slightly awkward, quickly pulled his hand back and gave Megumi a small bow while she was reaching out to take his hand. The two laughed at the confusion, and the two finally shook hands while Tim said, “It’s good to finally meet you, Megumi.”

“Likewise, Tim,” she said.

The two sat at the table, and Megumi held out her business card to him with both hands, as was customary for her. She expected Tim to accept it with both hands, but he just took it with one hand and put it in his jacket pocket without looking. He figured he already knew her well enough he didn’t need to look at it. When he handed her his card, she took it with both hands and set it carefully on the table to study it and evaluate his position in order to know how much respect to offer him along with the respect due to him as an older man.

The two chatted about their different cultures while waiting for the others to arrive. At 6:10, the door opened, and a tall blonde man of middle age entered and came immediately over to the table. He seated himself with a smile, not waiting to be invited, and introduced himself as Alberto. He instantly started chatting away about various trivial things without any apology or explanation for his lateness, which was normal for him but Megumi thought was rather rude and gave her and Tim both the impression that this meeting wasn’t important to him.

At 6:30, the door opened again, and a dark-haired young man entered. He looked around briefly and, spotting the group, made his way over. He greeted them, introduced himself as Mohamed, and sat down without invitation and started chatting away, as Alberto had. As with Alberto, Tim and Megumi felt him rude and that he didn’t take the meeting seriously.

The chatting continued for a while, and Tim finally had enough of it. “It’s getting late,” he announced, interrupting Alberto and Mohamed, “and we didn’t come here for idle chitchat that shows no respect to the seriousness of our meeting. Let’s get this meeting started already, shall we?”

Megumi was startled at his gruffness. She felt he could have handled it a bit more diplomatically. But Alberto and Mohamed apologized and explained they were used to doing things that way in their cultures.

Tim apologized for his gruffness, and the meeting at last began. As they went over the different items, Mohamed announced new ideas he had for the site, and Tim asked for data backing up how is ideas would better it. He didn’t have any. Alberto told them he liked Mohamed’s ideas and was willing to go along with them, but Megumi, who hadn’t expected new ideas to be introduced, didn’t want to agree with making changes without discussing it with the others in Japan first.

The group went back and forth over it for a while, and Alberto, frustrated, finally said, “You know why we can’t reach an agreement? It’s because we’re from different cultures with different views on respect and responsibility. I think if we could understand each other and our differences better, this meeting would go better because we’d know what to expect from each other.”

He reached into a pocket and pulled out a couple of business cards. “By the way, here’s my card,” he said. He handed one to Tim and then handed one to Megumi with both hands.

“I didn’t bring any business cards,” Mohamed said, “since to me we are friends and not just business partners, and felt I didn’t need to bring any cards.”

Tim and Megumi stared at them for a moment then looked at each other. With a slight nod to each other, they turned back to their companions and voiced their agreement to Alberto’s statement. The meeting resumed with everyone willing to be more understanding of each other, and in the end, by working together, they were able to come to a decision that satisfied everyone.

Respect is a very important value, especially when working in an international environment; in PMI’s Code of Ethics and professional conduct is clearly defined as:

“An environment of respect engenders trust, confidence, and performance excellence by fostering mutual cooperation—an environment where diverse perspectives and views are encouraged and valued”.

This kind of environment will make the team performing more efficiently, in a highly trusted workplace.