Misunderstood

​It has to be my warped sense of humour.  I was chuckling to myself long after the event.
I needed petrol.  I got some and it was time to pay.  When I went into the shop to pay the guy at the counter was being really friendly to the people before me.  My turn came and he was really friendly.  Asked me how my day was and I told him and asked him how his was.  Said it was good and it being the day it was made it even better.  That was when the totally unexpected exchange happened.
I asked him how long he’d been here – wondering did he start at midnight and have not long to go.  He told me he had started at the joint four years ago and had been away a while before coming back.  I knew he had misunderstood me.  I rephrased the question.  He launched into a spiel about what had brought him to this point.  I then asked what time did you start today?  That was when the light bulb went on in his head.  He had started at 5am and was working till midday.  I left the shop with the biggest smile on my face and kept reliving the experience.
I find it too easy to be misunderstood.  It is one of the reasons I like things in plain English.  When things are couched in big names and weird terms there is too much of an escape clause.  When I make a claim it is, “you can’t because of what it says in clause 57 item R, line 64.  Didn’t you read it?”  Well yes but I did not see it as saying that.  Open to interpretation.  Not a good look especially as it is worded to make me the loser.
When dad was around, we had a construction job we were doing together.  We had discussed it and believed we understood one another.  It was only in a final discussion I realized we had totally different things in mind.  If we had not discussed it again, I would have never known and the result would have been totally different to what was in my mind.
It is one of the reasons I like to state something as simply as possible.  If I have a choice of a big word (very rare) or a number of smaller words I will go for the smaller words so I know we are on the same page.
It is probably a reason too why I like to get things done well ahead of time when I can.  I find it terrible finding out when it is really too late to change anything, that I got it completely wrong.    When I need to make corrections, I find it easier if I have the time.
After my stroke I was being assessed if I was any good to continue working.  I did what I was asked and was later told I had it completely wrong.  I was devastated.  It only occurred to me later that of course the figures were different because the information it was based on was downloaded daily.  Yesterday’s figures are updated to today’s figures.  I knew that (once I remembered) but the one assessing me probably did not.  Anyway, I think it worked out as it should, as I was not good for work for other reasons.
Buying petrol is not often entertaining, but today it was.