Just when you think you have got everything fixed and running smoothly...watch some Bas$$$d come along and stuff it up !!!
As a very sobering lesson about language and the traps of translation, I can tell you all that I just survived a disaster by the skin of my teeth !!
Eternal thanks to Maxx for the 24 hour rule...saved my life.
Ming was very keen to have a gorgeous Cheongsam specially made for her as her wedding dress...I endorsed this 100%, because if anybody ever made anything more sexy and at the same time, elegant, for a woman to wear...then I havent seen it !!
I sent over a fair bit of money to pay for this "creation" and left her to it.
She mentioned on QQ some days later that her Sister thought that a gold bracelet was needed to complete this ensemble...and that her Sister would buy it....and what did I think about that.
Very nice, I thought, hooray for Sister, what a nice guesture and yes, that would be great !! (a bit of relief for my shell-shocked credit card
)
2 days later I got hit with...sorry Honey, the bracelet was more than we thought, can you send some more money" ??
I almost exploded....and then took a deep breath and said I would work it all out tomorrow.
What had happened was a simple translation error on my part...I heard "My Sister will buy it" and assumed that meant "My Sister will pay for it"....wrong !!!!
After waiting the mandatory 24 hours, we sorted it all out....Sister got involved in the actual purchase because Ming has almost no jewellery and was very nervous about going to buy anything in gold...she worries she would get ripped off and end up with something very inferior...so she sent Sister off to do the deed.
Had I given in to my basic instinct and ripped into her for being a gold-digger and spending my money recklessly, I would have stepped right into a pile of you-know-what and possibly offended this lady beyond imagination. As it was, she had tried very hard to get my approval and permission BEFORE making a purchase...and of course, it was always my option to say no, had I properly understood what she was telling me in the first place.
I can only begin to imagine how hurt and shocked she would have been if I had got hostile about it all.
Just a small story that demonstrates the value of waiting for 24 hours !!...and demonstrates that you can never relax too much with translation asumptions.
David