Susurrus Semantics

Question

The roofer was supposed to come today between 10:00 and 12:00. He didn't show up so my husband called the office and this woman answered the phone. She said, "He's already been out there and no one was home." My husband was aggitated cause there were four people here all morning, and no one came to our house. He said, "Baloney, baloney, baloney! There were four people here all morning." So later he talks to the guy who was supposed to come, and the guy told him he left a message on my husband's cell phone (which was in his car so we didn't hear it ring) that he couldn't come cause he didn't have his truck today.

The guy also told my husband that the woman in the office told him that my husband cussed her out. So "baloney" is a cuss word?

Who was right? This is a riddle - it really happened, this is what everyone really said. If you were writing a script of this who would be the protagonist, who is the bad guy, and who is the dumb ass?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

I almost forgot. While all this was happening the susurrusing of the almost bare (from the hurricane winds) trees made a pathetically deafening roar that may have obscurred everyone's hearing.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I almost forgot. While all this was happening the susurrusing of the almost bare (from the hurricane winds) trees made a pathetically deafening roar that may have obscurred everyone's hearing.[/nq]
The crucial detail!

Anybody can direct, but there are only eleven good writers. - Mel Brooks

Usenet · Answer

Either the woman in the office told your husband a bald-faced lie, or she was honestly mistaken about whether the roofer had come to your home or not. It could be that the roofer told her that he tried to reach your husband and got no answer, which she could have interpreted as "nobody was home."
Either way, I've noticed that some of these type of people don't have the same sense of "how things work" as people do in corporate America. Some of these guys go into business for themselves because they couldn't cut it working for someone else or just don't like to be bound by other peoples' rules. They come and fix your house when they get good and ready. Sometimes it's in the general timeframe that you asked for, and sometimes it's not. Sometimes they don't feel like dealing with you at all, and so they don't.
Lois

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]The roofer was supposed to come today between 10:00 and 12:00. He didn't show up so my husband called the ... a script of this who would be the protagonist, who is the bad guy, and who is the dumb ***?[/nq]
In ***tic-speak, the Woman at the Office would be the contagonist - the distraction from the real dramatic conflict. Your husband is the protagonist (making you the love interest) and the roofer is the bad guy. He's the one who lied about his truck being unavailable (he was on another job) and who had the responsibility to perform, and didn't.

'Baloney' isn't a cuss word but he was clearly headed in that direction; it was used in anger and only your husband's inestimable decorum and obvious good breeding prevented him from saying "***" instead.
Your husband, though the hero, shares some of the blame for the misunderstanding because he left his cell phone in his car. The point of a cell phone (as I have been reminded of, on many occassions) is to render the victim completely and totally available for conversation, at all times of the day and night, with no exceptions. Your husband's Tragic Flaw was/is his insistance on maintaining some sort of 'private life' or 'space' in which he can't be immediately contacted by lying tradesmen shirking their duties.

Life Continues, Despite
Evidence to the Contrary
Steven

Usenet · Answer

Next thriller screenplay: "The Roofer"
See, the "roofer" was just toying with you. Wants to drive you nuts. So that when he finally arrives, your death will be scarier, and you will scream louder.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Either way, I've noticed that some of these type of people don't have the same sense of "how things work" as people do in corporate America.[/nq]Huh? In "Corporate America" they get no-bid contracts and don't do any actual work at all. And speaking of which... I've gone to Charlottesville twice now, both times I was supposed to change over our Nortel switch to accept a PRI (Smart T1) circuit when it was using a regular T1. My company (another sub-contractor) flew me out twice for this job. Both times MCI found some lame excuse to put it off even though date and time were clearly scheduled and noted in emails.

The customer spent hours try to respond when no one called him at the cut over time. What it comes down to is that they just don't have enough qualified people anymore. They rely on contractors, who may or may not have gotten paid last time and may or may not be available for the new job. After the corporations, like MCI, have screwed enough of these contractors they have trouble finding anyone at all. I don't know about other industries, but the telecom corporations are laying off their regular help and trying to farm everything out.

It's breaking down big time.

RonB
"There's a story there...somewhere"

Susurrus Semantics

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