Pardon?

Phoned to get some quotes for insurance for house contents. As expected, everybody struggled with my first name. And because of this, they didn't realise that my surname was one of the most common English names until I spelled it. Funny (as usual).

I don't know why, but I struggled with English today. Listening on the phone, I mean. I've been on the phone, speaking to strangers so many times since November and I'd had no trouble understanding whatever they said. But today I had to say "Pardon?" so many times that I must have sounded so stupid to them.

Maybe because they were using many unfamiliar terms for legal matters. One of them often sounded as if a whole sentence were in one big unknown word... Yesterday, I was fine understanding what a BT woman was saying on the phone. A couple of nights ago, I was fine with my brother-in-law's wife on the phone. Did I suddenly lose a bunch of brain cells overnight? Or, do they live on a planet of insurance brokers far, far away??

Interesting that a quote from a big bank was about £70 dearer than one from a company who has only 5-6 branches in Northern Ireland.