One of the things I love about Spain is that even companies who are aware that customer service is critical still get things wrong. But at least they try. Last week I called Telefonica to tell them that my phone set wasn’t working. They were very nice and asked me whether I preferred the engineer to call in the morning or the afternoon. I considered asking for definitions of these terms but let it go and just said the afternoon. Then yesterday morning they called to tell me that the engineer would arrive the following day [i. e. today] at 1pm. Now, by no stretch of the imagination is this ‘afternoon’ in Spain. The latter begins when you leave work, say 1.30 or 2, or possibly when you sit down to lunch, say 2.30 or even 3. But no matter; I was quite happy with 1pm the following day. So, imagine my surprise when the engineer turns up half an hour after the call telling me that he will be arriving the next day. Well, no surprise, really. Just satisfaction and amusement. And the engineer was a lovely man who took a great shine to my border collie, being the owner of two setters himself. We parted as great friends. And at least another engineer didn’t turn up today, morning or afternoon.

Word Watch:
Gánster – Gangster, of course
Puzzle – pronounced ‘pooth-lay’. Jigsaw
Un borderline – A person of subnormal intelligence
Prime time – Prime time
Top-less – Topless

Nuptials Nonsense
1. There will be a website dedicated to the wedding
2. The designer for the dress has been chosen and is from Catalunia. This is considered to be politically correct, apparently

For those interested, I have added a page of quotations about the Spanish to my web site – colindavies.net

I have also added short collection of Spanish proverbs that I have come across. One or two defy understanding but this is less than astonishing, I suppose.