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| MrSnake |
on Sat 26 Jul 08, 1:17 AM to MrSnake's blog.
I was watching a re-run of "I'm Alan Partridge" a couple of months ago where Alan is insisting to his long suffering P.A. Lynn that he won't compromise on a lower standard of car in order to save his production company. Lynn won't relent so Partridge in his typically rude fashion announces;
"I'll just speak over you. Go on. Try and finish the sentence and see what I do".
Lynn dutifully tries to reason with him so Partridge the man-child just starts repeating "I will not drive a Mini Metro." until she realises the futility of talking with him and gives up.
I wondered if this approach could actually work in real life and decided to give it a whirl. As the love of my life was watching with me, I told her that I would now use this line to win all arguments/debates.
Case 1: Mrs Snake. A couple of days later and we are having a heated debate. She's far more intelligent than I am so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I was a tad surprised to find that pure belligerence actually overcame a good education Case 2: My local council. They had been messing me about for a month and a half and I was utterly scundered with their constant requests for documentation and information that I had physically brought to them four times already at this stage. By now I had nowt to lose anyway, so armed only with superior rudeness I walked into their offices and brought no supporting documents whatsoever . I just stated my case and kept repeating it, making sure to use the "speak over you " line. Unbelievably, I got another result! Case 3: PC World Business: They had been tardy again with a next day delivery and I was going to email them but realised that I couldn't just speak over them due to the nature of email so I gave them a wee call instead. Five minutes later and I had "Partridged" back the shipping costs for both orders. Completely free postage = win for me!
I decided to try another tact when speaking with Acer about a faulty laptop. I was polite, measured and calm when speaking with their "customer service" team. I really shouldn't have bothered though as the terse bugger just hung up on me. The next time I have to deal with a dodgy Acer laptop I am going back into Partridge mode for dealing with them.
Moral of the story? Sometimes politely expressed reasoning just isn't listened to and being an obnoxious boor will serve you best. Sometimes sheer rudity will fluster folks to the extent that they'll give in rather than have to deal with you. So when your being right isn't enough just bring out your inner Partridge! Ah Hah!
| 26 Jul 08, 1:21 PM TheTroll 3 yrs |
AUSTRIA, AUSTRIA!
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| 27 Jul 08, 1:55 AM Blubell UK(PH), 6 yrs |
Next you will be wearing a cardigan and loafers lmao  Always smile, give everyone something to wonder about |
