Don’t Promise A Rush Job If You Can’t Deliver

My laptop breaks down less than a week before I’m going to be moving abroad for months. I’m desperate to get it repaired before I leave. My father drives me to the repair place on the day they said it would be ready. He has a bad temper when things don’t go his way, so I talk to him beforehand.

Me: “These people are doing a rush job for me, so I need to be extra polite. Please, just let me do all the talking.”

Dad: “Sure.”

Me: *To the clerk* “I’m here to pick up my laptop.”

Clerk: “I’m afraid we haven’t gotten to it yet.”

Me: *Extra sugary* “I told the other guy that I’m leaving the country in a couple of days, and he said he’d try to have it ready by today.”

Clerk: “We didn’t have a chance yet.”

Dad: “So, in other words, it was a lie!”

I ended up leaving the country without my laptop.