Real-Life Decision Making
The mayor has just settled in to have tea with a French ambassador. You've scheduled the usual half-hour for the mayor to visit with this dignitary. As everything seems to be running smoothly, you turn to other organizational tasks that are sitting at your desk.
Very soon, you're interrupted by a group of enthusiastic tourists who are looking around city hall. They're very excited to be in your city and would love to get a photograph with the mayor. They only have 10 minutes before their bus departs, and they beg you to interrupt the mayor's meeting so that they can have a photo with him.
It would only take a minute. "You have to know when it's a good idea to interrupt the mayor's meetings," says Jeannie Bates. She is a protocol official. "If someone just wants their picture with the mayor, you have to tell them he's in a meeting."
You politely tell the visitors that they'll have to wait if they'd like a picture, as the mayor simply can't be interrupted during this meeting. As they're mulling over the bad news, the phone rings. It's one of the town councilors on the phone.
"I need to talk to the mayor," he says. "The city bus drivers just started a wildcat strike, and the downtown is in gridlock."
With the tourists breathing down your neck, you have to make a decision. Do you interrupt the mayor's meeting in front of these people you just turned down? Or, to be fair, do you decide to wait until the meeting is finished before you speak with the mayor about the transit strike?