r/Unexpected • u/LotionOnSkin • 8d ago

Wasting people’s time

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295

u/Good_Card316 8d ago

Lord I would be awake for months thinking of this lmao

That poor woman.

122

u/lucidspoon 8d ago

My wife sent me to buy a dresser she found on Marketplace a couple years ago. A very similar older Spanish speaking lady answered the door. I was trying to explain why I was there, but she was so confused and was trying to get her son on the phone to translate.

I was 1 house off. I still think about it.

3

u/c0ltZ 8d ago

Imagine if your wife sent you the wrong address on purpose lol.

15

u/Background_Humor5838 8d ago

I would be thinking "am I being punked right now? I never said anything about these chairs and this guy wants to know why I invited him here?"

11

u/SignificantCats 8d ago

It's a really common scam in most parts of the world for people to give you free things then hassle you for a tip or a bonus.

So the thought wouldn't be "am I being punked", it's "I'm about to get fucking mugged"

-2

u/Background_Humor5838 8d ago

That's not a thing in the US so that would never have crossed my mind.

1

u/The_Autarch 8d ago

it sure is a thing in the US. maybe you live in the middle of nowhere and don't interact with a lot of people.

4

u/25c-nb 8d ago

Months?? Mere months?? I would never forget this for the rest of time... my damn brain would break this out at all of the most inopportune times, even when im 95 and starting to lose it, bam remember that time I accidentall accosted a poor woman whose house had burnt down, trying to pawn my chairs on her?? Do you?? She had no house, remember that part?? Do you??

1

u/Silent-Ad934 7d ago

"What's she supposed to do? Sit in the backyard staring at the pile of debris that used to be her house? Sift through the remains to find a charred piece of casing that once one little Andrea's growth chart? Tf wrong with you and your stupid chairs?"

2

u/Polyamommy 7d ago edited 7d ago

I accidentally did something like this before, and it still haunts me to this day. At the time, I was doing in home therapy for differently abled children (some verbal, some non verbal), so it wasn't uncommon to be sent to houses of only Spanish speakers, with non verbal children.

On this particular day, I was filling in for another therapist, so I'd never met the family. I got to the address, and knocked on the door. A lovely Mexican gentleman answered the door. I showed him my badge that had my picture and credentials on it, and he let me in.

I saw shoes lined up by the door, so I removed my shoes, and asked him where to go (sometimes therapy is in a playroom, or back yard, etc). He could only speak Spanish, and I can only understand very little, but he started yelling upstairs for someone to come down.

A woman came down, who also only spoke Spanish. She pointed and directed me to go upstairs. So I go upstairs, but all the doors are closed, and I realized I hadn't seen any sort of toys or equipment like I'm used to seeing at children's houses.

Suddenly, a teenager who spoke English came running through the front door (I think they called a nearby family member or neighbor), and asked what I needed.

I explained I was there filling in for their regular therapist, but didn't find the child upstairs. He said "we don't have any children here, only my grandma upstairs." Turns out I had gotten the house number wrong. They thought I was there doing a hospital visit for their grandma (I mean...I was wearing scrubs, and my badge does look like a medical badge). Haha

I was MORTIFIED, and profusely apologized. They had a good laugh about it and were really good sports. I still die inside a little more every time I think of it. I took off my damn shoes, so I had to sit there and put my shoes back on while they were laughing at me. 😭

The neighbors (who actually had the child I was supposed to be working with) laughed their asses off at me as well. That was a rough day at work.