Culture Quiz 255them are permanently stationed outside of the local bank in
the basement.
SITUATION 6
You have moved into a beautiful neighbourhood full of local
charm. Every morning, the older people in the community
are out in the garden doing tai chi, in the late afternoon
the garden is full of parents out playing with their children.
The guards in your compound are courteous and helpful.
After the first week in the apartment, you notice that the
kitchen sink is leaking so you ask the management to have
a maintenance man come repair. After an initial review, he
says that it will require additional parts and he will have to
come back in the afternoon. He appears in the afternoon
and repairs it, and then says he needs to come back later to
check it. Thus begins a series of spontaneous visits by the
repairman day and night to look at sink, which continues
to leak. He interrupts dinner parties, shows up at 11:00 pm
at night, and comes by while you are in the shower. You
have finally had it when he rings the doorbell at 7:00 am on
Saturday to change the part to another that he believes will
finally repair the sink. You respond by:
Seeing him outside the door, not answering in the hopes
he will take a hint and go away until a decent time (which
causes him to stand there and ring the doorbell another
30 times until all of your neighbours are in the hallway
wondering what is going on).
Answer the door, tell him to come back at a reasonable
hour, and then slam it shut in anger.
Deciding it is time to set some boundaries, you get dressed
and go down to the management office with him to remind
them that he needs to make an appointment in advance to
come to your apartment for repairs, and that unless agreed
otherwise, those repairs must take place at an agreed time
between 9:00 am and 7:00 pm.
Putting on your best ‘I didn’t just wake up’ smile, open
the door and invite him in to repair the sink again, in the
hopes that it will be the final time.