Over a year ago, I helped out a company in Singapore. No, I don't handle Singapore, but someone here gave them my name, they called me late on a Thursday night needing some parts by Monday, and with the time difference, I had no choice but to put in some time and effort to help them. Big mistake! Even though I have repeatedly given them names and phone numbers of people in their own time zone, they continue to contact me because, in their minds, I can get things done.

I had another inquiry from them Monday -- this one, at least, was by email -- so I asked the factory to quote a distributor in Singapore and to copy our representative there. I got the cutest message from the representative this morning:

We can't help but to notice that [Big Company] is like a saying here "will only dig the hole (primitive toilet) when the sh*t is knocking at the anus door." Americans have a more polite way of saying it -- they want the goods yesterday.

Would you have believed that Americans would be more polite than Orientals?!