It is time for my lunch break at work. I took my lunch with me that day. I enter the breakroom to have what I thought would be an uneventful lunchtime. At that moment, I happen to look at the bulletin board. There is a poster with a car for sale. Although I was not in the market for a new car, the price and model of the car caught my attention.
At the time, I had only lived in the United States for about five years, so many things were still new. Still, the poster showed a white car and at the bottom stated $7,500 OBO. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Self-explanatory right?
Wrong.
My brain and mouth said out loud for my boss to hear, “what kind of car is an OBO?” Yes, I asked that question. Out loud.
After a momentary silence, she asked, “You’re joking, right?”
Now, at this moment, any rational thinking person will stop and realize that something was wrong. Right? After all, the fact that she seemed stunned into silence had to say something. Unfortunately, this did not deter me.
I said, “No, I’m new to the States, so I’ve never heard of an OBO before.”The look on her face was priceless. She then said in a slow, deliberate speech pattern, “The Car is $7,500 O-B-O .”
Before she could finish, I chimed in and said, “Yeah, OBO.” She only shook her head in dismay and said in a questioning tone, “O-B-O as in Or Best Offer?”
The Clouds Parted
Finally, the clouds lifted, and I achieved enlightenment. I managed to mutter a half-deflated, “Oh.” Sadly, I realized at that moment that I committed two grave mistakes. First, I demonstrated my inability to think out loud. I also shared that fact with my boss of all people.
This moment was indeed the first of many moments I truly wanted the earth to open and swallow me. Unfortunately, that phenomenon did not occur for me. So I was left to move through the day with the shame of the OBO. My OBO moment was a source of great amusement for my coworkers that day. The OBO also created the first of many LAM moments for me.
I hope my OBO LAM moment brought you some joy today!
Leave a Reply