conversation between me and a mechanic:

[deird1]

Mez: Hi, can I book my car in for a service?
Mechanic Guy: Sure. Can I get your name, details, etc?
Mez: *gives details*
MG: Okay. What service do you want?
Mez: Um... I'm not sure I understand.
MG: What service do you want?
Mez: What do you mean?
MG: I mean... what service do you want?
Mez: I'm sorry, but I really don't understand what you're asking me. Could you explain what you want to know?
MG: Well - what service do you want?
Mez: *headdesks*


Dear Mechanic Guy,
I'm sure you were asking a very simple question. And I must have been frustrating to deal with. But...
1) yes, I really am that clueless.
2) I am not deaf.

STOP REPEATING THE EXACT SAME WORDS WHEN I'M ASKING YOU TO EXPLAIN. I CAN HEAR THE WORDS. TELL ME WHAT THEY MEAN.


Sometimes it would be nice if I could just smite people.

Comments

[velvetwhip]

Sometimes people are simply begging to be smote.


Gabrielle

[worksofliterata.wordpress.com]

I know it's kind of detestable, but sometimes I get around issues like this by playing the "I'm just a silly woman" or "I'm a dumb little woman" act: "Well, I don't really know what it needs, but the car needs to go in for service every so often blah blah blah..." (Sometimes, this is the simplest way to get things done. Sometimes, though, people get a nasty case of whiplash when they find out afterwards that I'm _not_ just a dumb woman and know the difference between a solenoid and a catalytic converter.)

[next_to_normal]

Haha, I think he was probably looking for, like, "oil change" or "tune-up" or "the [car part] is broken" or "well, it's making this funny sound and I don't know why..." Typically, you have to be more specific than just "a service."

But still, it'd be nice if he'd rephrased the question as, "What is wrong with the car that needs servicing?" or whatever when you didn't understand what he was asking.