Thursday 26 August 2010

Oh My God Moments!

I thought I would share with you one or two of my ‘Oh My God!’ moments.

When I was a child our neighbour used to take his daughter and me to school in his company car. In those days, very few people had cars and company cars were even less. But the car that took us the short distance to our school was large, black and shiny, the seats were big and comfortable and the windows were huge and so clean they sparkled. At the school gates we would alight from the car and wave enthusiastically at my friend’s father as he drove away. Nobody every said a word to us about our privileged ride to school, but years later I learnt that our neighbour was an undertaker and the company car he had so kindly taken us to school in was a hearse!

 
I’m not sure what you think about your name, but I admit to wishing mine had be different and one day in the office the topic of conversation got onto names. I bravely said that I could not understand how someone could look into a pram and say Pauline. But as the words left my mouth I saw my colleague pale. Trying to rescue the situation I added, yes but it is not your name that is Pauline, it is mine! It was the wrong thing to say as my colleague retorted, we called our daughter Pauline.

 
Many years ago, long before I got into communications, I was a buyer and one of the sales managers called to ask for a pricing for a particular product. After looking into his enquiry I called him back and began to explain the cost implications depending on the vehicle the product was delivered in. One vehicle had a compressor and the product would effectively be blown into the tank, whilst the other vehicle would need to be weighted on a weigh bridge and then the product would be pumped out. Having explained all of this, I concluded by saying. ‘You can either have a pump or a blow job….!’ 
Believe you me I had no idea that I had phrased it like that until I heard my colleague at the desk next to me yell out about what I was offering! Once I realised what I had said I could not speak. My colleague who was on the other end of the phone has never forgotten that conversation!

These are just a one or two of my OMG! moments, but I hope you will share one of your OMG! moments!

6 comments:

Rosalind Adam said...

Your blog made me laugh. I love the picture of you proudly jumping out of the hearse. I can identify with your feelings over names for babies though. My friend's baby is called Paul but I have to call him 'Baby Paul' because in my head Paul isn't a baby's name. Strange, isn't it.

Pauline Barclay said...

Hello Rosalind thanks again for stopping by, I'm glad it made you laugh, I hoped it would make readers smile. And they are all true! I still blush at what I said to that sales manager and it was a lot of years ago....!

Hope Rod is improving.....as always big fluffy hugs to you...x

Chris Stovell said...

I can imagine that every remembered that last conversation Pauline! Very brave of you to share your OMG moments!

Pauline Barclay said...

Thanks Chris, but at the time that last comment was well known throughout the company and it was an international oil company!

notesfromnadir said...

These are so funny! Going to school in a hearse--but you describe it as being very clean so that's always a plus!

That last example you gave sounds like a very interesting conversation! I bet the colleague on the other end of the phone was a little surprised.

Pauline Barclay said...

Hello notesfrommadir Thanks for calling by and talking the time to leave a few words. I guess I was so excited about being in a car, in the late 1950s not many people had a car, so the few who did treasured them.
As for the last conversation, my colleague was great and even after all these years him and his wife are still in touch....!

Please stop by again.