I get that all the time, unless the person knows me.. a lot of my speech can be very inconsistent and with my lack of body language, facial expressions and actual social ability.. it can be very difficult for people to understand. My therapist has a very hard time making sense of me.
I was talking with a relative last night at work about being autistic, and a customer that was walking by had listened in on our conversation and stated 'You're autistic?' and I said yes, 'I have a nephew that's autistic and I have to say you're doing a fantastic job doing what you're doing,' whatever that means... 'my nephew can't get anything out of his brain unless its in writing. He's brilliant, but he just can't say anything that makes sense.'
And that sort of happens to me, what the guy is describing about his nephew. And I just couldn't articulate my responses well enough and quickly enough in order for the guy to understand...
I've had so many angry customers because they've completely misinterpreted what I've said, either they asked a question I was unprepared to answer or my scripts just didn't have the proper wording/effect.
Most of the time, scripts get me out of trouble. Because scripting goes beyond just words, I've learned to script my body language and such for retail work, not that I understand why that body language works for people.. but whatever. Not pleasant, not totally effective, but it helps sometimes.