Language Barrier

Almost all American-born citizens get frustrated with customer service people who don’t speak very good English, or legal immigrants we encounter who don’t know the language, people from other states on our roads who are driving too slow or too fast…the list is endless of what frustrates us.

Two mornings a week I do bookkeeping for an auto repair shop near my home. It provides me with a little extra pocket money since I’m retired and I keep up on my office skills.

The other morning the phone rang and the service manager answered it. From listening to only one side of the conversation, I could tell that the caller was not understanding a word that was spoken to him.

The service manager put the caller on speaker so myself and another guy in the office could hear what was going on.

It was obvious that the caller was very confused about our policies and procedures regarding emission testing. First he said (I think) that he failed an emissions test. Then he said (I think) he passed an emissions test. The service manager was very patient with him and wanted to set up an appointment to have his car looked at…but it’s important for us to find out if he really needs an appointment or if there’s another issue. The call ended shortly thereafter and since I was busy, I didn’t know the outcome of the conversation.

I won’t deny that we were all laughing about this call because the three of us were struggling to understand what he was saying so we could help him.

Several minutes later the phone rang again and I answered it. Guess who? Yup! He was calling back about his appointment that day. I knew he didn’t have an appointment that quickly because we book about two weeks out…and he just called ten minutes ago.

I went along with it and asked for his name so I could look on the schedule. His name was not on the books for that day and when I told him that, he said thank you and hung up.

That should be the end of this but it wasn’t. About twenty minutes later he walks in the shop office. He was about forty-five, well dressed, clean cut, and I could see he was really struggling to explain his problem to the service manager.

Instantly I felt horrible for laughing earlier at someone who I assume was in this country hoping for a better life. In person he was easier to understand and we could confidently direct him on how to handle his problem.

Would it be better for him to have someone with him who could help translate and understand? Probably easier said than done.

I simply cannot imagine moving to another country and not having a better understanding of the language. How many people like him are taken advantage of on a daily basis in this country?

Lesson learned here. Never too old to learn!