Driving in America - a view from an Englishman.

[Starter]

That reminds me of the following true story.

A while back I was trying to place an on-line purchase through a U.S. based retailer (I can’t remember for what). However the web site indicated that transactions for shipments to Canada required calling their 1-800 number. So I promptly called and explained to the person on the phone that I was calling from Canada and wished to ship the item to my Canadian address. The conversation went something like this:

“O.k.” the operator replied pleasantly, “What city are you calling from sir?”

“Calgary” I replied.

“And what state is that in?”

“Erm” replied I, “well, we don’t have states in Canada, but it’s in the province of Alberta.”

“Hmm” she replies, “that’s not showing up as a selection in our on-line system.”

“Yes, I know, that’s why I’m calling this number.”

“O.k. I guess we’ll have to do a manual order. What’s your zip code?”

“Erm...”

reminds me of the call center person I spoke with a couple of years ago who insisted I couldn't ship something to an address in Taos because they only shipped to the US and New Mexico was a foreign country.