14 ms·

I can understand (though find it ridiculous) that they didn't want to give his wife a ticket, but to propose simply leaving her outside the venue alone? What th

I can understand (though find it ridiculous) that they didn't want to give his wife a ticket, but to propose simply leaving her outside the venue alone? What the actual fuck? Was there not a human-based moment of common sense here, or at least marketing sense from Microsoft? When people behave like that, the umbrella of some corporate behemoth doesn't prevent me from from feeling pessimistic about people (both those in question and often generally.) Sigh!

codezero 13y ago
While I completely agree with the general sentiment and I think Microsoft went in the wrong direction here, presumably his wife is an adult and could find a Starbucks or something to entertain herself for an hour or two. While it would have been completely reasonable and courteous of MS to accommodate the speaker's wife, it's kind of wild to equate not letting her in to kicking her to the curb/abandoning her.
- protomyth 13y ago
  From the article "What man would just leave his wife in a foreign country stranded outside a conference hall for almost two hours without even letting her know what was going on." How is that not kicking her to the curb?
  - codezero 13y ago
    That he couldn't say "Well, this isn't working out, let's meet in 2 hours at X." before she was escorted out seems very implausible to me. I've spoken at plenty of conferences, and brought my wife along, and have had my share of complications, and my wife has been able to "wing it," as I expect any adult should be able to do. I'm not saying it's completely absurd that she should have to wing it, but I just don't feel like this is the substance of the issue being presented. His wife is not a helpless child with no money, information or ability to move freely, so I am just not willing to accept that being escorted out (which was stupid in the first place) is tantamount to being abandoned.
    - onli 13y ago
      I'm a male adult and regard myself as being quite independent, if I want to. If my significant other just after arriving in a foreign country where I planned to follow her would leave me alone in such an unexpected way without a clear plan how to meet and a clear message of what is going on, I wouldn't like that very much. Not at all. Even though I'd not be helpless in such a situation, it is just absolutely disrespectful. And, which is a severe thing, it would also show that me that the other person allows others to treat him that way, something I'd also think I'd not accept at all for myself.
      - prawn 13y ago
        Then surely the guy insists on being able to speak with his wife to arrange a time/meeting place?
        enneff 13y ago
        He did the more self-respecting thing: leave these bureaucratic idiots to their stupid conference to be with his partner.
        prawn 13y ago
        Disrespected conference attendees, right?
        rbanffy 13y ago
        If I have to choose between disrespecting my wife and conference attendees, I'm sorry about the attendees. Do they pay their speakers?
        JayEnn 13y ago
        What does payment have to do with it? A little common sense & a little respect for people is not nullified just because money has paid hands.
- kstrauser 13y ago
  What would it have cost Microsoft to let his wife come inside and hang out for an hour to watch her husband speak? It wouldn't require giving away an expensive ticket, or buying meals for her, or giving her a swag bag. It would only have required one decision maker to say, "sure, you can go with him but should probably leave afterward so other attendees don't wonder what's up". That's all. I wouldn't have been nearly so polite if I were in his situation, and my wife would have a conniption if I were banned from watching one of her talks. Again, I can't think of a single legitimate reason not to have let his wife go to his talk, and that simple act would have bought a lot of goodwill. The fact that no one was able to make that simple judgement call is a sign of terrible organization.
  - prawn 13y ago
    I imagine they take a hardline because otherwise it creates a precedent. "Can this guy come in and take photos? It's my boyfriend/brother/BFF/etc." Becomes a potential loophole. Very unlikely to be exploited, but I imagine that's what they're thinking. If they are thinking...
    - PakG1 13y ago
      Of course it creates a precedent. The question is whether such a precedent is OK. There are other examples here where that precedent happened and created a lot of good will consequently.
    - smackfu 13y ago
      "We don't want to use common sense, we just want to have rules that anyone can blindly enforce."
      - brazzy 13y ago
        The problem with leaving things to common sense is that different people's common sense will lead to different decisions in many situations - it can lead to questionable forms of selective enforcement. "Other speakers' wives were allowed to attend their talks, but my homosexual life parter was escored out by security!" "I paid $$$ to attend but this speaker brought 5 friends who got in for free!" If you depend on common sense, you either have to make sure to hire only people who don't misjudge, ever, or have to deal with embarrassing mistakes.
- dsuth 13y ago
  No she was actually kicked to the curb, when she was physically escorted from the building by security. That right there is unacceptable behaviour. No one gives a shit about your precious bureaucracy and petty little power plays. Accommodate the people you've invited to your conference!
- droithomme 13y ago
  New Orleans right now has the highest murder rate in the US. It is not only a very dangerous city, it is in fact currently the most dangerous city in the entire country. http://www.npr.org/2012/07/05/155986277/new-orleans-struggles-with-murder-rate-and-trust http://www.npr.org/2012/07/05/155986277/new-orleans-struggle... Leaving someone out in a strange foreign city of this nature to just deal with it is absurd.
  - marshray 13y ago
    I've never seen a major conference center that didn't have a place to drink coffee and read for 2 hours without being killed. There are even large, open pre-registration areas in the center for folks to chill for exactly this sort of reason. That said, it sounds like he and his wife were treated horribly.
    - nknighthb 13y ago
      Security removed her from the building. You don't go back in a building you have been forcibly removed from unless you want to be arrested.
      - marshray 13y ago
        I'd say that counts as being treated horribly.
    - cyanbane 13y ago
      "I've never seen a major conference center that didn't have a place to drink coffee and read for 2 hours without being killed. " Both the perfectness and absurdity of this sentence is awesome. New Orleans may be bad, but it isn't _that_ bad, especially an area that MS (or any big firm) chooses for a company sponsored gathering. If MS was bright had any respect for their speakers they would have dynamically made room available for this speaker's wife in some area inside the conference center. They are idiots for not bending rules doing it. But to also think they shoved her out a door and steel barred the entrance and left her there by herself in the middle of Voodoo Shantytown New Orleans where the creole shamans and werewolves circled her is just as crazy. I get where the author is coming from and totally understand his stance, but I honestly do not believe that MS intentionally put his (non-invited?) wife in harms way. From his description MS treated him awfully and I hope they realize this and attempt to correct it in the future and see where being human in some instances is indirectly worth more than the price of admission to TechEd, but lets be honest - they didn't make his wife walk the plank to circling sharks.
- darkarmani 13y ago
  > While it would have been completely reasonable and courteous of MS to accommodate the speaker's wife, it's kind of wild to equate not letting her in to kicking her to the curb/abandoning her. It is if they had told her they would let her in and then when they got him separated from her, they lead her out to the street. How is that not kicking her to the curb?
- rmc 13y ago
  The problem isn't that it's dangerous or physically harmful, the problem is that it's rude and disrespectful.
- GrinningFool 13y ago
  Picture having been left outside while your SO goes to figure out what's going on. She tells you she'll be right back. Two hours later, she comes back. "Sorry, I had to give my talk. They didn't give me a choice. I hope you didn't get too bored standing out here waiting for me." Personally, I applaud the author for realizing that there was, in fact, a choice - and then choosing it.

codezero 13y ago

While I completely agree with the general sentiment and I think Microsoft went in the wrong direction here, presumably his wife is an adult and could find a Starbucks or something to entertain herself for an hour or two. While it would have been completely reasonable and courteous of MS to accommodate the speaker's wife, it's kind of wild to equate not letting her in to kicking her to the curb/abandoning her.

protomyth 13y ago
From the article "What man would just leave his wife in a foreign country stranded outside a conference hall for almost two hours without even letting her know what was going on." How is that not kicking her to the curb?
- codezero 13y ago
  That he couldn't say "Well, this isn't working out, let's meet in 2 hours at X." before she was escorted out seems very implausible to me. I've spoken at plenty of conferences, and brought my wife along, and have had my share of complications, and my wife has been able to "wing it," as I expect any adult should be able to do. I'm not saying it's completely absurd that she should have to wing it, but I just don't feel like this is the substance of the issue being presented. His wife is not a helpless child with no money, information or ability to move freely, so I am just not willing to accept that being escorted out (which was stupid in the first place) is tantamount to being abandoned.
  - onli 13y ago
    I'm a male adult and regard myself as being quite independent, if I want to. If my significant other just after arriving in a foreign country where I planned to follow her would leave me alone in such an unexpected way without a clear plan how to meet and a clear message of what is going on, I wouldn't like that very much. Not at all. Even though I'd not be helpless in such a situation, it is just absolutely disrespectful. And, which is a severe thing, it would also show that me that the other person allows others to treat him that way, something I'd also think I'd not accept at all for myself.
    - prawn 13y ago
      Then surely the guy insists on being able to speak with his wife to arrange a time/meeting place?
      - enneff 13y ago
        He did the more self-respecting thing: leave these bureaucratic idiots to their stupid conference to be with his partner.
        prawn 13y ago
        Disrespected conference attendees, right?
        rbanffy 13y ago
        If I have to choose between disrespecting my wife and conference attendees, I'm sorry about the attendees. Do they pay their speakers?
        JayEnn 13y ago
        What does payment have to do with it? A little common sense & a little respect for people is not nullified just because money has paid hands.
kstrauser 13y ago
What would it have cost Microsoft to let his wife come inside and hang out for an hour to watch her husband speak? It wouldn't require giving away an expensive ticket, or buying meals for her, or giving her a swag bag. It would only have required one decision maker to say, "sure, you can go with him but should probably leave afterward so other attendees don't wonder what's up". That's all. I wouldn't have been nearly so polite if I were in his situation, and my wife would have a conniption if I were banned from watching one of her talks. Again, I can't think of a single legitimate reason not to have let his wife go to his talk, and that simple act would have bought a lot of goodwill. The fact that no one was able to make that simple judgement call is a sign of terrible organization.
- prawn 13y ago
  I imagine they take a hardline because otherwise it creates a precedent. "Can this guy come in and take photos? It's my boyfriend/brother/BFF/etc." Becomes a potential loophole. Very unlikely to be exploited, but I imagine that's what they're thinking. If they are thinking...
  - PakG1 13y ago
    Of course it creates a precedent. The question is whether such a precedent is OK. There are other examples here where that precedent happened and created a lot of good will consequently.
  - smackfu 13y ago
    "We don't want to use common sense, we just want to have rules that anyone can blindly enforce."
    - brazzy 13y ago
      The problem with leaving things to common sense is that different people's common sense will lead to different decisions in many situations - it can lead to questionable forms of selective enforcement. "Other speakers' wives were allowed to attend their talks, but my homosexual life parter was escored out by security!" "I paid $$$ to attend but this speaker brought 5 friends who got in for free!" If you depend on common sense, you either have to make sure to hire only people who don't misjudge, ever, or have to deal with embarrassing mistakes.
dsuth 13y ago
No she was actually kicked to the curb, when she was physically escorted from the building by security. That right there is unacceptable behaviour. No one gives a shit about your precious bureaucracy and petty little power plays. Accommodate the people you've invited to your conference!
droithomme 13y ago
New Orleans right now has the highest murder rate in the US. It is not only a very dangerous city, it is in fact currently the most dangerous city in the entire country. http://www.npr.org/2012/07/05/155986277/new-orleans-struggles-with-murder-rate-and-trust http://www.npr.org/2012/07/05/155986277/new-orleans-struggle... Leaving someone out in a strange foreign city of this nature to just deal with it is absurd.
- marshray 13y ago
  I've never seen a major conference center that didn't have a place to drink coffee and read for 2 hours without being killed. There are even large, open pre-registration areas in the center for folks to chill for exactly this sort of reason. That said, it sounds like he and his wife were treated horribly.
  - nknighthb 13y ago
    Security removed her from the building. You don't go back in a building you have been forcibly removed from unless you want to be arrested.
    - marshray 13y ago
      I'd say that counts as being treated horribly.
  - cyanbane 13y ago
    "I've never seen a major conference center that didn't have a place to drink coffee and read for 2 hours without being killed. " Both the perfectness and absurdity of this sentence is awesome. New Orleans may be bad, but it isn't _that_ bad, especially an area that MS (or any big firm) chooses for a company sponsored gathering. If MS was bright had any respect for their speakers they would have dynamically made room available for this speaker's wife in some area inside the conference center. They are idiots for not bending rules doing it. But to also think they shoved her out a door and steel barred the entrance and left her there by herself in the middle of Voodoo Shantytown New Orleans where the creole shamans and werewolves circled her is just as crazy. I get where the author is coming from and totally understand his stance, but I honestly do not believe that MS intentionally put his (non-invited?) wife in harms way. From his description MS treated him awfully and I hope they realize this and attempt to correct it in the future and see where being human in some instances is indirectly worth more than the price of admission to TechEd, but lets be honest - they didn't make his wife walk the plank to circling sharks.
darkarmani 13y ago
> While it would have been completely reasonable and courteous of MS to accommodate the speaker's wife, it's kind of wild to equate not letting her in to kicking her to the curb/abandoning her. It is if they had told her they would let her in and then when they got him separated from her, they lead her out to the street. How is that not kicking her to the curb?
rmc 13y ago
The problem isn't that it's dangerous or physically harmful, the problem is that it's rude and disrespectful.
GrinningFool 13y ago
Picture having been left outside while your SO goes to figure out what's going on. She tells you she'll be right back. Two hours later, she comes back. "Sorry, I had to give my talk. They didn't give me a choice. I hope you didn't get too bored standing out here waiting for me." Personally, I applaud the author for realizing that there was, in fact, a choice - and then choosing it.