The shop I work at mostly repairs computers, phones, and tablets, but we do occasionally get asked to work on other electronic devices (e.g., audio equipment). This was the case this one particular afternoon, when a lady brought in a new-looking cassette tape player (bear in mind, also that this is recent, so these are getting a bit harder to find, as many local appliance stores have long stopped selling them). The manager served her, but the conversation went something like this:

Customer: “I have this tape player, as I have a lot of old tapes which I want to play. I bought it online from the USA and paid good money for it, but I can’t get it to work. I plugged it in, but just heard a pop, and it won’t do anything.

My boss and I can already see where this is going. To understand what happens next, it’s worth remembering the two big differences between the electrical system in the USA and Australia. First, in the USA, the pins on the mains plugs are straight, but in Australia, they are at a 45-degree angle, so an appliance with a USA plug won’t fit into the mains here. Second, the voltage is higher: 120V in the USA and 240V in Australia. 

Now, this doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to run appliances made for the USA market here. You can buy step-down transformers with USA outlet plugs from many electronics stores (including one that is only a block away from our shop) and online, but unfortunately, that’s not what this customer did. 

Manager: “Okay, so did you use an adapter or transformer to plug it in here?”

Customer: “No, I just plugged it straight in. It didn’t fit very well into the plug, but we bent the pins with pliers, and it went in.”

Manager: “Um… okay. One of our technicians will have a look at it for you.”

After having more of a look, I can’t emphasise how dangerous this actually was. I could see that the two pins on the mains power plug indeed had marks on them from pliers and had been bent and twisted to force them to fit into an Australian plug (at least if you really forced it) – but they would only go in about half way – just enough to make contact, but not enough to push the plug all the way into the wall. There was a twisted section on the pins, which was still exposed, and there was enough of the plug hanging out of the wall to fit your fingers behind and potentially touch a live pin!

Of course, after opening the appliance up, the main transformer was completely burned out and melted to a crisp, thanks to having twice the rated voltage fed to it. The silver lining here is that the damage was limited to the power supply section, and I was able to repair the device and modify it to make it safely run here in Australia.

If an electrical plug doesn’t fit, don’t twist it and force it. Thankfully, this customer didn’t end up electrocuting themselves or causing an electrical fire. But I do worry that the next person to try this might not be so fortunate.

My friend’s son, let’s call him Davy, was five or six years old and had been given some toys he wasn’t quite sure how to operate. I show him how to convert them between their robot and vehicle forms.

Davy: “How did you know how to do that?”

Me: *Solemnly.* “It’s because I’m a genius.”

Davy stares at me, wide-eyed.

Later that day, one of his little friends visits, and Davy introduces us.

Davy: *Proudly.* “This is my genius!”

I work in a second-hand store. Basically, everything in the store is donated to be sold to raise money to help those in need. We’ll take most things, but sometimes we have to turn things away, like in this phone call:

Me: “Hello, [Company name and location], this is [My Name].”

Caller: “Hi. I wanted to know if I could drop something off as a donation?”

Me: “Sure thing. What have you got?”

Caller: “I’ve got some colostomy bags.”

Me: “…what?”

Caller: “I promise they’re new and unused.”

Me: “I… don’t think we can take those.”

Caller: “I mean, it says you can on your website.”

Me: “Does it? I don’t think it would. And in any case, who’s coming to [Company] to buy those?”

Caller: “…I mean, I suppose that’s true.”

Me: “Maybe try a hospital? I’m sure they can use them.”

Further investigation found that the caller was TECHNICALLY right: the website says, “new and unused items”. Didn’t specify colostomy bags, though, that was more of an abuse of the wording on her part.

I’m at home, and my phone rings, but it shows “PRIVATE NUMBER” instead of a name or a phone number. No one I know has caller ID blocked, but you never know, it might be legit, so I answer.

Scammer: “Hello, I am Agent Smith of the Internal Revenue Service. I am calling for [My Name].”

Ah, yes, the IRS scam. It has to be a scam because I’m a Canadian, I live in Canada, and I do not have US citizenship.

Me: “Speaking.”

Scammer: “Hello, yes, I’m calling about back taxes you owe. Can you confirm your SSN for me, please?”

Me: “I don’t have an SSN.”

Scammer: “…what? Of course you do. Everyone has one.”

Me: “Not me. I’m special.”

Scammer: “Now look, this is quite serious. If you refuse to cooperate, I will have no choice but to have the FBI arrest you!”

Me: “Good luck with that. Last I checked, the FBI has no jurisdiction in Canada. Goodbye!”

I hang up. Not even ten seconds later, the phone rings and it’s “<PRIVATE NUMBER>” on the display again. Pretty sure it’s the scammer, I pick it up and I’m all set to tell them to get lost, but the scammer beats me to it:

Scammer: “CANADA ISN’T REAL!”

And hangs up.

Alrighty, then.

Related:
Canada: America’s Hat, Part 11
Canada: America’s Hat, Part 10
Canada: America’s Hat, Part 9
Canada: America’s Hat, Part 8

I’m trying to help an older customer reset a password and sign back in to their email account. After going through the steps, I inform the customer of what their new password is.

Me: “Your password is [some letters, some numbers] with an exclamation mark at the end.”

Customer: “Sorry, what’s that?”

Me: “Passwords with [Company] need to have a mix of letters, numbers, and another symbol. So yours is [letters, numbers], exclamation mark.”

Customer: “Sorry, what’s the last thing?”

Me: “An exclamation mark.”

Customer: “What’s an exclamation mark?”

Me: “It’s the symbol just above the number one on your keyboard.”

Customer: “Oh, okay, thank you. I’m sorry I wasn’t brought up around computers.”

I did get the customer signed back in, and they left satisfied. But it honestly took me a second to process what had just happened.

To the best of my knowledge, exclamation marks are just a basic part of the English language and have existed since long before computers. I’ve helped plenty of customers to reset passwords, but this was the first time I’ve had to play the role of an English teacher in the process.