The wary gray clouds
Promise the rains are over
Until tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Yesterday we ran into an acquaintance of ours who’s Panamanian but whose son was raised in the states. He’s now living here full time and adjusting to the Panamanian ways of getting things done.
For example, his truck was in the shop for 4 months before it was finally repaired, then she said it still wasn’t done correctly. That made me feel even more like an impatient American as that very same day we were taking the bus into David to pick up my Nextbook tablet that had been in the shop for three weeks before I decided to pull the plug on any further delays.
The differences between how some businesses operate here and how it’s done in the states can be pretty striking, though I don’t believe it’s as bad as it sounds. I doubt the repair person I was dealing with would continually delay repairing my computer if he didn’t believe that sooner or later he’d find someone who could supply him with the necessary part.
In the states no one would be expected to put up with three weeks of numerous “could you call me back in a few days?” just to find out if a part was available or not. More than likely a business would make a few inquiries from their suppliers then call it a day and relatively quickly inform you that they can’t order your part.
That decisiveness definitely has its upside as at least you know whether to find another shop or give up and get a new whatever.
But some Panamanian repair people want to hang in there believing that somewhere in Panama there’s a spare part and if they wait long enough it’ll show up and they’ll be able to make the repair. And there’s something admirable about that attitude as well.
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