Saul a no show

[Mrs. Rupert]

I had my own business 'up North' as well and I always notified my clients if there was going to be a scheduling conflict.  None of us know the reason for Saul's no show, and that does not mean it is ok to vilify him and decide his actions are 'bad'.  Find out what the problem is before assuming the worst.

[pappysmarket]

On 5/12/2019 at 3:45 PM, sciman said:

Dear Gringal: That sounds like a perfectly reasonable way of understanding the situation; it's a cultural contrast and conflict. Mudgirl, however, doesn't or won't accept or understand it. She sounds very judgmental to me, though she claims not to be making judgements at all. Others who take some apparent discomfort at the invocation of external standards, which "mudgirl" (love the dirty name;-) attribute to the Professional World (and herself) wouldn't agree, though the situation strikes an outsider as one full of insularity. I suspect that the woods down there are full of Gringos who earn passive aggressive responses which they neither understand nor anticipate. 

Thank heavens we have a wise newbie to show us our failings, Oorah!

[mudgirl]

On 5/12/2019 at 3:45 PM, sciman said:

Dear Gringal: That sounds like a perfectly reasonable way of understanding the situation; it's a cultural contrast and conflict. Mudgirl, however, doesn't or won't accept or understand it. She sounds very judgmental to me, though she claims not to be making judgements at all. Others who take some apparent discomfort at the invocation of external standards, which "mudgirl" (love the dirty name;-) attribute to the Professional World (and herself) wouldn't agree, though the situation strikes an outsider as one full of insularity. I suspect that the woods down there are full of Gringos who earn passive aggressive responses which they neither understand nor anticipate. 

I understand the cultural element and conflict quite well. I have even thought about where it comes from- for one thing, as Mexicans usually have large families, and often several generations living in the same house, there is usually always someone home- even if it's just grandpa sitting in a chair on the porch all day. So it doesn't matter if you phone first, as there is always someone there to let you in to do your job.

If someone does not understand that foreigners may live alone or only a couple to a household and that they will be wasting their time waiting all day, I have no problem explaining to workers why it's important to me that they call if they can't make it, or will be significantly late. If they choose to ignore that information and continue to disrespect me in that way, I just move on to find someone more responsible. If others want to accept that type of behavior and continue to use those workers, fine, that's up to them. As I said, all Mexicans are not like this, and many who used to operate like this have realized it's not going to earn them a lot of recommendations. Not bothering to let someone know you can't make it is not caused by some immutable genetic gene. 

I always find it curious that those who like to label others as judgmental do so while being judgmental themselves. 

[timjwilson]

The other side to this coin is that local Mexicans hate this as much as gringos. One of my Mexican friends hired some guys to trim trees. He even paid ahead. When they did not show, he was pissed off. He said to me 'That is why we are a third world country'.

The one that gets me is local businesses who don't return calls or emails when they stand to make a buck.

[Eric Blair]

Maybe it's a cultural thing, but rarely will a worker call and say they can show up at the designated time, they just don't show up. Also, getting a return call is a real task.

Just something we have to live with.