26/7 after effects

What a relief to get our car back from the workshop. The 26/7 flood really did a number on our car. It was a bit of a delayed reaction though. Initially, we thought we had managed to avoid the endless lines at the service shops even though the car was driven in almost 2 feet of water. The starter finally gave in to rust 2 weeks later and so we ended up at the back of that long line of cars waiting to be serviced.

We handed our car over on 6th September and got it back today. Thankfully we are not at the mercy of a moody starter or auto and taxi wallahs anymore. The guards of our apartment complex and office must be more thrilled than us that the starter is fixed; they were the ones always recruited into pushing the car to get it going!

The entire experience made me think of something that has troubled me for a long time. What works best, anger or politeness in getting someone to do the work? In this case, when we were at our wits end, we scolded, berated and shouted at the poor quality of parts in our brand new car or at the delay in service and at other times we were polite, smiling and courteous when we saw some progress being made. I wonder which worked more to our favor. Did we manage to get our car fixed for free because we threatened them by knowing the top bosses or because we were courteous and polite. I think its the latter, while my husband thinks its the balance of both that works best.