Larry, my Chinese counterpart scares me sometimes. Not only is he a marginal driver at best, it turns out he is, how shall we say, directionally and chronologically challenged.
Wednesday he drove us from Shenzhen to see a new customer opportunity near Guangzhou. We had a 10:30 appointment and he assured me the trip would take two hours. Had he either A: consulted a map ahead of time, or B: known how to listen to the GPS ap on his phone, this two hour estimate would undoubtedly have been true. As it turns out, he did neither. Ninety minutes into the trip, his GPS told him to get off the highway, and as he tells it, told him to get back on the highway. At the next exit the same thing happened. Larry concluded the GPS was defective and continued heading north. An hour later we passed to the north of Guangzhou and hit a major traffic jam, moving only one mile in an hours time. Around this time I took out my phone, found the customers address on the web, punched it into Google Maps and found we had driven more than 90 miles past where we should have turned off this highway. I am quite sure when his GPS told him to get off the highway and get back on, it meant to go in the opposite direction because he missed his exit. Larry blamed the GPS
In backtracking, we hit another traffic backup which it turns out was caused by a dump truck sized load of dirt in the middle of the freeway. Not sure how that got there. We finally arrived 3 hours late. On the way back to Shenzhen, he got lost again. What should have been a 7 or 8 hour trip had become 12. I was visibly angry. I hate being late.
I ditched Larry and had dinner alone. Afterwards I went to a favorite bar where I know the owners (they invited me to their son's birthday party last trip). I taught the girl behind the bar how to make caipirinhas and had a nice evening playing pool against one of the bar girls. I beat her the first few games. She asked me to buy her a drink, to which I told her she had to beat me at pool first. She kicked my a$$! I guess I got hustled.
The next day we had a 10:30 flight to catch and Larry assured me we should leave for the airport at 9:00. I suggested 8:30 and I thought he understood and agreed. Wrong! We arrived at the airport 30 minuted before the flight was to depart, 10 minutes after they closed check in. We were able to get on the next plane to Shanghai, but again I was pissed and gave Larry a stern lecture about punctuality and planning ahead. Larry blamed traffic.
I dont want to seem too negative about Larry - he is outstanding at his job - he just drives me insane at times.
Wednesday he drove us from Shenzhen to see a new customer opportunity near Guangzhou. We had a 10:30 appointment and he assured me the trip would take two hours. Had he either A: consulted a map ahead of time, or B: known how to listen to the GPS ap on his phone, this two hour estimate would undoubtedly have been true. As it turns out, he did neither. Ninety minutes into the trip, his GPS told him to get off the highway, and as he tells it, told him to get back on the highway. At the next exit the same thing happened. Larry concluded the GPS was defective and continued heading north. An hour later we passed to the north of Guangzhou and hit a major traffic jam, moving only one mile in an hours time. Around this time I took out my phone, found the customers address on the web, punched it into Google Maps and found we had driven more than 90 miles past where we should have turned off this highway. I am quite sure when his GPS told him to get off the highway and get back on, it meant to go in the opposite direction because he missed his exit. Larry blamed the GPS
In backtracking, we hit another traffic backup which it turns out was caused by a dump truck sized load of dirt in the middle of the freeway. Not sure how that got there. We finally arrived 3 hours late. On the way back to Shenzhen, he got lost again. What should have been a 7 or 8 hour trip had become 12. I was visibly angry. I hate being late.
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| Shenzhen neighborhood near the Nan Hai |
I ditched Larry and had dinner alone. Afterwards I went to a favorite bar where I know the owners (they invited me to their son's birthday party last trip). I taught the girl behind the bar how to make caipirinhas and had a nice evening playing pool against one of the bar girls. I beat her the first few games. She asked me to buy her a drink, to which I told her she had to beat me at pool first. She kicked my a$$! I guess I got hustled.
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| The "Minnesota Fats" of Shenzhen |
The next day we had a 10:30 flight to catch and Larry assured me we should leave for the airport at 9:00. I suggested 8:30 and I thought he understood and agreed. Wrong! We arrived at the airport 30 minuted before the flight was to depart, 10 minutes after they closed check in. We were able to get on the next plane to Shanghai, but again I was pissed and gave Larry a stern lecture about punctuality and planning ahead. Larry blamed traffic.
I dont want to seem too negative about Larry - he is outstanding at his job - he just drives me insane at times.
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