[BlueSkyJaunte]

It's worse than you think.

I frequently work with "colleages" in the Asia/Pacific region who can't even follow simple instructions. They do not respond to email in any way, shape or form. They cannot communicate verbally in English (despite the fact that fluent English is a requirement for being hired at their various sites). And whenever they have a problem, their first response is to set up a teleconference for, say, 8PM or 6AM my time. Never mind that a simple one-line email could solve the problem.