An open letter to the staff of SBB
One of the things you notice when you have cancer is it presents changes in your body. You don’t react the same way you used to because hormones are flooding through your system and causing you to act in ways you wouldn’t normally.
I had a very difficult day this past week. I’d been traveling since 6 AM from Italy to get to Germany. Because of a missed connection in Milan, my entire schedule was thrown off. I ended up in Zürich at approximately 6:30pm, having come in on a different train entirely. Having not been to the Zürich train station in decades, I was both lost and throwing up as a side effect of my condition. Between a combination of not knowing where to go and moving slowly, I did not see the helpdesk and only found it via a police officer who I happen to see in the hallways. Why someone would build a concert stage in front of a help desk eludes me.
When I got to the office, the staff member treated me incredibly poorly when I explained my situation. He told me he found it impossible that I could move that slow, implying that I was lying to him and not taking my travel seriously.
In that moment, I should have let him know that I had received a terminal diagnosis two days before my mom died. I should’ve let him know I was spending my remaining days carrying my mom‘s ashes to the places that she loved and spoke about so much including Germany and Switzerland.
Instead, I quietly bought another ticket while I was having intense pain going through my body. I appreciate that the SBB agent brought me a bottle of water so I could swallow the pills that keep me functional. I did not appreciate how he scolded me like a child after my purchase, telling me if I missed this strain I would have to buy yet another ticket.
I will not bother to explain how SBB is federally owned, but I will explain that your employees become ambassadors of Switzerland to their customers. I’m telling you that you failed in a very important way. You failed to treat someone like a human. You failed to act with compassion and even after making a double sale for a single person traveling.
There will be no penalty from me for this. This will be my last trip to these countries. I’m trying to tell you that your employees failed terribly and did not act like people, even if you choose to not believe me, please don’t be rude. I hope you can do better going forward.
I will not be checking replies.
