How many boxes...

A recent call to a shredding company gave me another great example of the challenge in expert–layperson conversations.
I thought I was prepared: my pile of papers to shred was right in front of me, already weighed.
I ask about their pricing.
𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲: “How many boxes do you have?”
Boxes? I hesitated. Did they mean moving boxes? Banker boxes? Couldn’t they just use my weight?
𝗠𝗲: “Not sure… I think I have 20–30 lb of documents.”
𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲: “But how many boxes?”
𝗠𝗲 (half annoyed, half feeling dumb): “What size boxes do you mean?”
𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲: “Standard boxes. It’s $X per box.”
End of call.
I ended up taking my pile to a competitor, who handled the same question much better. But I couldn’t let it go. Later, I looked it up: the guy probably meant “standard banker boxes.” For him, it was a basic industry term and another conversation with a dummy customer. For me, it was jargon.
A tiny disconnect — but enough to lose a customer.
This is the kind of gap Conversation Analysis has always highlighted: experts live in one conversational world, lay people in another. Bridging that gap isn’t just “nice to have.” It’s a skill every frontline employee should be trained in.