An e-mail for my Tuk-tuk driver
Backpackergranny is now an expert in setting up an e-mail. Hence the blog about:- an e-mail for my Tuk-tuk driver. My tt (short for Tuk-tuk) man is a sweetie, but oh my God, sometimes I wonder what planet he is on! the other day, I found him lounging in his tt (as they all do when they have no customers) and very obviously waiting to get some business out of me! Life in Cambodia is always a revelation. Tomorrow I am going with my Tuk-tuk driver to see the countryside, meet his family and visit one of the rural village schools. Guaranteed, I will have a fascinating day.
Hurriedly I told him that I was busy building my website, So I did not need his service. You can imagine my surprise when he said: “Oh, I need a website! can you do one for me?”
I was thinking to myself, “Holy sugar! That’s all I need,” I naturally answered with a big stupid smile “yes, of course, I can” why my tongue constantly wag when it should be absolutely still? I will never know.
Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to ask him why he needed a website. I mean, why would a Tuk-tuk guy need such a thing!!! That is unless he intended to go for the big time. When he told me he needed to be able to write to his clients, the penny dropped!!! aaaaaah, what he needed was an e-mail. Again big mouth me tells him that’s no problem. Well, I don’t know how it happened, but the next thing is I am sitting with him in the back of the tt and proceeding with what I thought would be the easy task of setting up his e-mail.
He hands me his relatively small antiquated mobile phone and informs me that I must go to the supermarket opposite us. I then have to ask them for their password for an internet connection. I am aghast! Let’s face it, folks anywhere in the world, if you requested a shop for their password, they would tell you to get lost! Not so in Cambodia, they happily informed me of the secret code, and we were all ready to go.
below is how the filling out of his details for a new e-mail address went:-
Me……. “OK, so your name is Ben? “(i have always known him by this title)
Ben……” yes”
Me…….” what is your surname?”
Ben …….”Ben”
Me ……. “No, by that, I mean, your last name?
Ben……..”Ben”
Me ……”So you are called Ben Ben?”
Ben ……”Noooo, my name is pov.”
me ……” so you are Pov Ben?
Ben or Pov ……”Yes”
Me ….. “I need your date of birth.”
Ben or Pov……”Sunday”
Me…….” No pov or Ben, I need the period, what day 1.2.3, etc.?”
Ben or Pov…..”I don’t know, Sunday.”
Me…….” what month?”
Ben or Pov…..month??????”
Me….. ”January, February, March?”
Ben or Pov …..“I don’t know, Sunday.”
Me…..” OK, Ben or Pov, what year?”
Ben or Pov……” year?”
Me…..The year Beb or Pov! 1970, 1980, 1990, 2015?
Ben or Pov …” I don’t know, Sunday.”
An hour has since gone by, and I am still setting up or at least trying to do his e-mail!!! I then decide to give him a new date of birth and get on with it. after several attempts with dear old google being just as awkward as pov. “the name is taken,” “this password is not strong enough,” “please use capitals and numbers, Jazzus he is a Tuk-tuk driver, not a secret agent for the FBI.”
Phew, finally, I got his new e-mail and password sorted. Dear God! what a relief! with a mission accomplished, I finally managed to escape from Ben’s or Pov’s tt. Oh Lordy, then guess what! he smilingly asks me when I could organise Facebook for him! my mother used to say, “No rest for the wicked” Such is life 🙂
Interestingly, when I commented to a friend who has lived a long time in this country, he told me that many Cambodians don’t know their date or year of birth. Unfortunately, when the Khmer Rouge were in power, a lot of official papers got destroyed. Consequently, they have no records to check out their personal history. That, coupled with all the horrendous suffering they went through. I cannot help but feel very sad for these lovely people. nobody deserves the terrible pain and agony they went through
