Could we try it anyway?
06/22/09 11:29
Sometimes things don't have to be as difficult as some people (those who know best) make them out to be. I'm one of those people who thinks things through, organizes all the necessary paperwork in advance, and tries to make the process easier, or less complicated, for everyone. My favorite question to the statement "That won't work" is "Could we try it anyway?"
Here's an example. I paid off the loan on my van so I could retrieve the vehicle title from Ontario and get my vehicle registered in Pennsylvania as state law requires. It took 2.5 months, 3 phone calls, and 2 letters to get the Loan Release letter from the bank. Then I called the Ministry of Transportation in Ontario to ask how to get my title back. The response floored me: "Oh, we shredded it after micro-fiching it." Great. No title. Now what? So I called my local Triple A (American Automobile Association) and was told there were 13-15 official documents I would need, including letters from the State Department, US Customs, etc. Nuts, I thought, this calls for a trip to the AAA right now.
So I drove over and walked in, armed with everything I could think of, including my US passport, Canadian Auto Assn. membership, bank release, an itemized list of all loan payments I made, temporary driver's license, faxed copy of my original title - who but me would have kept that? - proof of insurance, Ontario vehicle registration, my SSN card, and my debit card.
The woman who served me remembered me from 4 years before and I think that helped. I said I need a duplicate title so I can register my van in Pennsylvania. I watched her talk to 3 or 4 of her co-workers to see what to do next. I think she was getting conflicting and complicated advice from each one. She said she wouldn't be able to do that today. I said, "Could we try it anyway? Here's what the title looked like", and I pulled out my copy. "I'll pay for a duplicate today, we'll see if Harrisburg will send it to me."
Then she said it would take weeks to get the license plate. I said, couldn't we just use this one? I held up the Pennsylvania plate I had replaced with Ontario plates 4 years ago. So I paid my money, got my registration sticker, put it on my plate and headed across the street to get the vehicle inspected. The shop manager there had been injured on the job and with fewer people on the job, it didn't look as though they could fit me in that day. But I asked, "Could we try it anyway?" I'd driven less than 5,000 miles since its last inspection so I was pretty sure there would be no repair work to be done. There wasn't.
Not only did my van pass inspection, but also the emissions test, and they kindly took off my Ontario plates for me and put the PA plate back on. So, instead of having to wait up to 6 weeks to get my PA plates and inspection, everything was done and paid for within 3 hours. And nobody was put out or inconvenienced.
So my mantra is: Could we try it anyway? It's a question, not a demand, and most people are willing to try it especially when they see I've made their work easier for them, and they get the money today, not later.
Here's an example. I paid off the loan on my van so I could retrieve the vehicle title from Ontario and get my vehicle registered in Pennsylvania as state law requires. It took 2.5 months, 3 phone calls, and 2 letters to get the Loan Release letter from the bank. Then I called the Ministry of Transportation in Ontario to ask how to get my title back. The response floored me: "Oh, we shredded it after micro-fiching it." Great. No title. Now what? So I called my local Triple A (American Automobile Association) and was told there were 13-15 official documents I would need, including letters from the State Department, US Customs, etc. Nuts, I thought, this calls for a trip to the AAA right now.
So I drove over and walked in, armed with everything I could think of, including my US passport, Canadian Auto Assn. membership, bank release, an itemized list of all loan payments I made, temporary driver's license, faxed copy of my original title - who but me would have kept that? - proof of insurance, Ontario vehicle registration, my SSN card, and my debit card.
The woman who served me remembered me from 4 years before and I think that helped. I said I need a duplicate title so I can register my van in Pennsylvania. I watched her talk to 3 or 4 of her co-workers to see what to do next. I think she was getting conflicting and complicated advice from each one. She said she wouldn't be able to do that today. I said, "Could we try it anyway? Here's what the title looked like", and I pulled out my copy. "I'll pay for a duplicate today, we'll see if Harrisburg will send it to me."
Then she said it would take weeks to get the license plate. I said, couldn't we just use this one? I held up the Pennsylvania plate I had replaced with Ontario plates 4 years ago. So I paid my money, got my registration sticker, put it on my plate and headed across the street to get the vehicle inspected. The shop manager there had been injured on the job and with fewer people on the job, it didn't look as though they could fit me in that day. But I asked, "Could we try it anyway?" I'd driven less than 5,000 miles since its last inspection so I was pretty sure there would be no repair work to be done. There wasn't.
Not only did my van pass inspection, but also the emissions test, and they kindly took off my Ontario plates for me and put the PA plate back on. So, instead of having to wait up to 6 weeks to get my PA plates and inspection, everything was done and paid for within 3 hours. And nobody was put out or inconvenienced.
So my mantra is: Could we try it anyway? It's a question, not a demand, and most people are willing to try it especially when they see I've made their work easier for them, and they get the money today, not later.
