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Appearances can sometimes lead to awkward misunderstandings.

In this story, this marine pilot in uniform was mistaken for a garage employee while picking up his car.

He was wearing his pilot uniform when another customer assumed he worked there and tried to rush him for service.

The situation quickly turned a bit awkward when the customer realized his assumption was wrong.

Check out the full details below.

Pilots work in the garage now?

I am a Marine Pilot/Harbour Master.

As such, I normally wear a uniform of black trousers, a white shirt, and rank stripes (4 gold bars) on my shoulder.

It is similar to an airline pilot.

This man went to the garage to collect his car.

My car has recently been in the garage for some minor work.

They gave me a courtesy car. My own car was ready to collect after work today.

So I called in to collect it, still wearing my uniform.

Pulling into the garage forecourt ahead of me was an SUV.

It missed all the parking spaces. It stopped in the middle, so I had to drive around it.

He noticed that the SUV driver was looking for a staff member to talk to.

I then parked. I jumped out as the driver of the SUV got out.

He walked to reception. There is a bell there to ring for attention, which he rang.

He walked past two mechanics. They were both wearing a combination of overalls and company-branded polo shirts.

One of the mechanics recognized me. He pointed me in the direction of my car.

He asked me to take a look at the work. It was some body work on the wing.

He said that if I was happy, I should go straight upstairs to the office and settle up.

The driver asked him if he worked there.

After checking the car, I went in the door. The SUV driver was still there.

He first told me that he had rung the bell for service. I was heading straight to the stairs.

I said that I had seen the chap outside. He said I should go straight up, which I was doing.

He then said, “But I am in a hurry. Dont you work here?”

I looked at the 4 gold stripes on my shoulder. I looked back at him and said sorry, no.

Wow, that’s a pretty bold assumption to make.

Some people really do jump to random conclusions without actually checking first.

It sounds like OP handled it calmly and didn’t let the guy’s impatience get to him.

Have you experienced something like this? Let’s see how others reacted to this story.

This person shares their honest opinion.

This one has a question.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about neighbors who intentionally tank an open house sale because they want to buy the property themselves.

Here’s another curious commenter.

Finally, here’s a petty and funny idea…

Not every uniform comes with customer service duties.