Body and Soul Int

Irretrievable….

It was not the easiest of telephone conversations with my overseas colleague, made harder because of his severe stammer…

Poor David stuttered his way through a very long half hour of some serious business issues. With a mutual feeling of relief and pleased to come to agreeable solutions, we ended our talk. I promised to confirm everything per email in the next hour or so.

A little behind with work, I hurriedly typed the message, trying to include everything we spoke about and pressed “send”. My eyes quickly scanned over the message in the few seconds before it left my outbox. I flushed with horror, as the first line of the email started with “Dear Ddddavid”, before it disappeared, safely on its way and irretrievable….

Els van Oldenbarneveld

Body and Soul International

Christmas dinner - funny work story

I’m at my desk, working away, in the mean time mentally preparing our table setting for Christmas. Where do I put the various parents - and what to do with the children? I would prefer to put them at one end, so they can entertain themselves. Don’t really relish interacting with a badly behaved four-year old all evening, which happened last year when my sister planted herself at the funny end of the table, and I found myself stuck with an overexcited child on each side.

The phone rings, and I pick it up. The plummy voice of the secretary of our Director Benelux comes through rather loudly. “Can you book a table at the Conrad restaurant for the board meeting next week, there will be 10 people total”. “Sure”, I reply, still busy thinking of my christmas dinner. “Will that be all adults”?

- Nathalie Morel

Body and Soul Blog

Funny travel story - My child is where?!

Some years ago, one of my clients sent her son Morris to an excellent boarding school in the UK.

As he was a minor, he was properly accompanied by a stewardess to the children’s lounge. Filled with the latest toys, gadgets and other children, Morris spent a few productive hours there before boarding his flight.

Five hours later, my client gets an indignant phone call from the airport in Mexico City. “Your son has arrived, nobody is here to pick him up. Can you please report to the airport information desk immediately!”.

Turns out, time in the children’s lounge was well spent, all children swapped their name tags and had a lovely time choosing another destination. And poor Henry from Iowa almost ended up being properly educated at Eton, instead of frittering his time away in warm Mexico City.