Hazards of Presumption

We all have a tendency to assume things are done the way we’re accustomed to seeing them done, but that doesn’t mean everyone else does them the same way.

Surely It’s Always the British Way

I’ve just had to grapple (again) with UK rules that presume the rest of the world does everything the same way as the British. For a relatively routine bit of paperwork, solicitors demanded documentation from a business matter in the States. I can’t provide it because it doesn’t exist. Because it would exist in the UK, they can’t believe there’s no such thing in the USA.

We started to go round and round about it. I’ve been here enough years to know that never turns out well. With some research, I learned there are a handful of alternatives the lawyers are supposed to accept in place of that document. I found an alternative I could satisfy. We had a minor round about getting that accepted, but in the end the solicitor agreed to take it. Whew!

The entire visa process to come here at all included many such clashes. Often I had to answer demands for documents that don’t exist in the USA or that I could only provide by breaking the law. It took months and immense effort to satisfy the authorities.

Such presumptions and their consequences happen in both directions between my two countries.

Surely It’s Always the American Way

Americans tend to assume getting signatures notarized is easy. In the USA, it’s easy to find a notary public. With little or no notice, you can pop in and get a document notarized for a few dollars. It’s often required for American transactions: taking out or refinancing a mortgage, making a big purchase, sealing a deal. I’ll get into something like that for the part of me that is American and someone will send a document for me to get notarized and pop back to them. Easy, right?

Not in the UK. The term notary public means something very different here. To become a notary public, first you have to earn a degree in law or be a solicitor or barrister for a number of years, pass a training course (as an example, University College London charges £8500 for their two-year course), swear an oath and pay a fee.

As you can imagine, not many people go through all that bother. There are about 800 notaries in the entire country.

The first time I needed one here, I lived in Worcester, a substantial city. The entire county only had one notary. It took two months to get an appointment and cost about £200 to get one financial document of several pages notarized. I considered going to the USA Embassy in London to get it done by an American notary public there, but the lead time for an appointment there was also two months and the cost of the travel made it no less expensive.

The last couple of times I’ve needed a notary were in Shropshire. I found a semi-retired notary public here who had only a two week lead time for appointments and charged about £50 each time I needed a signature notarized.

After that, of course, there’s the matter of sending the notarized document to the USA. That typically requires a courier service such as DHL to send it fast enough and be reasonably sure it won’t be lost.

Once, I got an insurance company to agree to accept a bank officer’s certification of my signature instead of notarization. That option disappeared in the wake of the Great Recession. Banks in the UK became unwilling to provide that service for customers any more.

I’ve tried to explain this to Americans, but it’s always met with incomprehension. Small wonder! The last time I needed to notarize a document during a visit to the USA, after my mother and I found one that didn’t require me to already have some kind of business relationship with them, I could walk in and get it done on the spot for $10.

It’s About More Than Documents

Presuming everything is done the way you see it where you live can get in the way with more than documents.

Years ago, before I went to Mexico to train factory operators, my brother gave me several tips. Among other things, I must not try to use a check to pay for something or reimburse anyone. Back then, paper checks were still a common payment method in the USA. Paper checks in Mexico required a longer term, more personally trusting relationship than I had yet with any of the people at the factory. (Everyone in Mexico was flawlessly hospitable. I am eternally grateful for my brother’s tips about how not to insult or offend them.)

In the Netherlands, if anyone from the factory invited me to their home (as a manager did, for dinner with his family), I should bring some small gift such as a bunch of flowers or bottle of wine.

In Luxembourg, I must not ask anyone to stay at work beyond their usual time to go home. It would be illegal for them to work late. They must not open earlier or stay open later than competitors because it would be unfair.

In Germany, everything must be done by the book, and done to perfection. (They would not tolerate any slippage in quality and were willing to take the time to do everything right.) Americans are sometimes fast and loose about rules in order to get something done. That would have been unacceptable.

If you are familiar with any of those countries, you may have quibbles about my examples here. Please bear in mind that I’m trying to keep those examples short and light, so I omitted nuances. Also, I don’t know those countries nearly as well as I know the USA and UK. Feel free to post comments to chime in, elaborating about this. It will be fascinating to hear your insights.

The point is that by presuming everyone does things our way, without any bad intention we can inadvertently miscommunicate, upset people, make something more difficult than it needs to be, or in the worst cases turn what ought to be a success into a disaster. Presumption is hazardous. A little bit of attention to check our presumptions before we act on them can go a long way.