The doorbell rang. Great, it’s probably the engineer to mend
my toilet. Open the door. “Hello, are you the engineer?” I ask by way of a friendly
salutation.
“Where can I park?” he replies by way of bad manners.
“Not sure,” I respond by way of mild piss-off-ed-ness.
“Well, if I can’t park, I’ll be on my way,” he bites back.
By now I’m very pissed-off. The guy knocks at my door, doesn’t
have the courtesy to acknowledge my greeting, then threatens to leave without attempting
to carry out the repairs.
Why is everything in life so confrontational? Why are
services in this country performed with such poor grace? Why do tradesmen act
as though customers are the enemy? It’s as though he was waiting for me to say
something to trigger his walking away.