Sometimes others just don't see us the same way we see ourselves. Yesterday was a perfect example.
I traveled to California to give a presentation to an industry group. After landing in Oakland I made my way to one of the major car rental counters to claim my reservation. There was only one woman behind the counter who, I assumed, was fairly new on the job since she had to call one of her co-workers out of the back office to help her with some code on the computer screen.
When I asked which type of car I was going to be given, she told me a model I knew wasn't going to be right for me. I'd be doing some mountain driving, possibly at night, and I wanted something I felt comfortable and safe in. More important, though, I'm still recuperating from a broken ankle and wearing a lightweight cast, and needed to keep my left leg stretched out, and this car just didn't provide that room.
She looked for another on her computer. When I told her I wasn't familiar with that model and asked how big it was, she called her manager out of the back office. I told him I wanted a larger car and he pointed to a gray wagon out on the lot. "No station wagons," I told him.
After perusing the inventory again, the woman took me out to the lot to sit in a car, which I told her was too small -- I couldn't stretch my leg out. Walking back to the office, she told me to sit outside and they'd get another. By this time I'd refused seven or eight cars and she was getting noticeably testy.
After a few minutes her colleague came out and suggested another. I sat in it and declined. Then another and finally "Holy fuel surcharge!" or whatever it is they say in this business -- it fit, I fit, my leg fit.
As she and I were heading back to the office I apologized to her for all the confusion. "I have a cast on my ankle," I told her, lifting the leg of my pant to show her, "and after sitting six hours on a plane I need to be able to stretch my leg out."
She looked downward almost in shock and then a big smile swept across her face. "Oh, I didn't know you were injured," she said. "I just thought you were a jerk."
I couldn't help think how lucky I was my sisters weren't there at that moment.
Jim Ferri
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