Tales From the Front: Communication Confusion

Language Confusion 817 Sm

Language Confusion 817 Sm

Martin Lewis of Redtop Repairs in Hartley, United Kingdom, remembers a confusing day: "I was working on a high-end site in London, and the boss said we were trying out a new Czech guy under my supervision for half a day. He turned up with no hand tools and no work clothes, but I lent him some of my tools and set him to work. By lunchtime he'd thrown a fair few boards down but all with a lot of language I didn't understand. We left for lunch at the same time; an hour later I got back but he didn't. Thirty more minutes, and I'm livid as I have to go to a meeting and I've not heard a word. I asked one of the other trades to contact me if or when he got in. At the end of the day I checked my phone, and it turned out he'd got on site five minutes after I left. I went back and explained to him that it wasn't going to work and let him go. He looked pretty pissed but understood, and said he'd just pack his tools up and he went back in. Wait ... what tools? I followed him in to find he'd finished two rooms and most of a hallway. My other guy had taken all day to do one! It turned out he had thought he was coming for an interview—and he was bitching in his native tongue that he'd be so much quicker with his own tools, so he went all across the city to fetch them. Obviously I asked him to stay. I have my own business now and look forward to the day I'm big enough to get him on board. He's an amazing worker with excellent quality, but I still can't understand a bloody word he says."

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