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Asked by Jrichdriver 7 months ago in other
I drive a tow truck ( I'm very good at it if I might add). But sometimes I have to deal with a special type of person who should not be driving, in the gulf area there is a little island called Hatti- it's a splilt island country, near Cuba. Now almost everyday I am forsced to deal with the smarter of their people who decide to float to the U.S and instantly become citizens. (remember my spelling sucks) Now being the nice and gental sole that I am I do try and understand that most are first generation, as well as newly intoduced to such fine things as indoor plumbing and electricity.
Now after just talking to a person on the phone I will recant our phone conversation and you tell me should this person be driving.
"Hi My name is James How can I help you today?" Their response.
"I need a Tow"
"Not a problem where are you?"
"I'm with my car"
"OK and where is your car?"
"It's with me"
"Ok where are you and your car at?"
"I don't know we are lost at the store".
"Ok what store, are you on a road or in a parking lot"
"I am at the store with my car you come get me."
"Sir I need to know where you are at to get you".
"I told you I am at store come get me".
At this point I decided to change topics to see if a change of infomation would jog the mans brain into working.
"Sir what kind of car do you have?" His response.
"OK, yes."
"Sir ok, yes to what?'
"My car."
"Sir there is no such car as an ok or a yes. do you have a color".
A very long pause and I could hear the man speaking in creole to someone when he spoke he added.
"My car Lost I am with it we are lost come find". he then hung up.
After calling him back and not getting an answer and leaving several messages I gave up. about an hour latter he called back.
"Where your driver I called I'm waiting where he at?"
"Well sir where are you at? all you told us was that you were lost with your car I need to know where you are at".
A long pause followed by more Creaole speaking untill he just hung up.
Additional Details added 7 months ago
After several hours the person called back.
"I still waiting, why I am I waiting."
after asking all the same questions that I asked before the person hung up. a short while later they called back upset.
"I am lost no one will tell me where I am, come get me I am waiting".
"Ok sir can you tell me where you are, what is the name of the store or what road are you on." A long paused followed by a rush of creaole speaking.
"Ok, yes I need a tow". Being as nice as I could be I again asked.
"Sir if you can't tell me where you are how do you think I will find you? I need a starting point to start looking."
"Ok, yes, I think I am in Naples, but I am not sure".
"OK sir what is the name of the store you are at?"
A short pause followed by the sounds of creaole being spoken.
"I don't know I cant read the sign."
"Ok sir please feel free to call back when you figure out where you are." And I hung up.
The customer called back yelling in perfect english.
"WHY YOU NOT HELP ME I am LOST come get me." so again I asked all the same questions as before and received all the same answers as before, so being as polite as I could I stated.
"Sir I don't know where you are, you don't know where you are, your freinds that you are talking to don't know where you are at. How do you think that I am going to find you." A short pause followed by more creaole and he answered.
"So you are on your way?" After saying "goodbye" I hung up the phone so far he has not called back.
Best Answer
worriedsick Lynne / R.T.(R)(M), BS
Answered 7 months ago
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Language is always an issue. I work in a highly diverse community and I deal with people like this all of the time. They are as incapable of understanding your frustration as you are of them.

It does seem pretty dense that they couldn't look at the name of the store they were at, tell you what city they were in and the name of the closest street to them. That said, I've had patients over the years that don't even have the faintest clule about anything.

Let me give you an example. I had a patient come in through our ER with abdominal pain. Stupidly, I assumed that everybody knew what an abdomen is and this patient didn't. I asked her if she was having abdominal pain and she just looked at me like I was speaking in tongues. I had to backtrack and ask her if she had pain in her belly. That she understood. Then she could tell me what was going on.

I understand your frustration, believe me I do. Sometimes you have to talk to them like you are talking to small children and ask small questions, like...what is the name of the store you are at? Can you look at a street sign and tell me what street you are near? If you can't tell me what kind of car you have, look for my tow truck when it gets there and find me. You can bring me to your car. Obviously, if you can't get them to listen, you're wasting your time. Do you have someone working with you that speaks Spanish? That might be something to think about. With the large number of Spanish speaking people in the area, it would help you considerably and cut down on your frustration levels. Just a thought.
Additional Details added 7 months ago
In view of the additional information you provided, you proved that they truly did not understand where they were nor were they able to help you. Chances are they couldn't read English. They may speak it fairly well, but they usually cannot read it. They won't admit it, either. They couldn't tell you what the store sign said because they couldn't read it or the street they were on. I'll bet you that's exactly what happened. That would happen with my patients all the time. They would not let you know that they couldn't read English and could scarcely understand. It makes no sense, but they are a proud people.
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robinsandy robinsandy
Answered 7 months ago
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WOW!!! And I thought weird things happened to me! It sounds like they didn't speak english very well and maybe had no idea where they were in the first place.Maybe they thought the tow truck had an automatic censor on it or something?
Arachnid Roland Sampson / Electrical contractor
Answered 7 months ago
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At least they could offer the language barrier as excuse, I have had idiots more English than myself who do not know the difference between up and down nor the difference between on and off. I often ride over 20 miles to see that a breaker is in the off position despite the people having assured me that it is "on". Also when an earth leakage unit trips, I tell them to unplug everything to isolate the problem circuit.A while later they phone back and say everything is unplugged but the earth leakage will not reset. After riding all the way there I discover an extension lead with a joint covered with sellotape lying in a puddle of water next to a washing machine or behind a fridge also in a puddle of water. Sometimes I feel like grabbing them by the ears and shaking all the cobwebs out of their heads. Some day I will probably kill one of them.
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