Thursday, August 20, 2009

Trying To Shop in English

It's easier said than done around here, I'm afraid! I went to the store a few days ago and we're looking for some hanging baskets for our fruits and veggies (if anyone has any suggestions, I'm open). While in Wal-mart, I searched and searched and finally just grabbed the last few items on my list and then as a last-ditch effort, I made my way to the produce section, thinking maybe they might have some on sale there. There happened to be an employee that was putting away some fruit, so I ventured to ask her if she'd seen any. She just shook her head and blabbed off something completely unintelligible to me (seeing as I only speak/understand English) and waved me on to another lady down the isle. I again repeated my question "do you know if you guys carry hanging baskets for fruits and veggies?" and she gave a blank stare and said, "basket bowl?"

"No, a basket to put things in...you know?"
"A bowl or basket bowl?" (very thick accent, by the way, almost sounding like she was saying "basketball")
"No (getting a little impatient, but keeping my cool), a basket, for vegetables and things!"
"OH!" She got a very excited look of comprehension and races down the isle. I follow her and she reaches out and grabs something and turns to hand it to me. It was a veggie platter, complete with dip in the middle.
"No, a BASKET!"
"Basket bowl?!"
"NO!!"
She then holds up her finger and runs to another lady and she comes over to "translate". Another lady with a thick accent. We went through much of the same conversation as before, without her getting the platter for me, and she finally said the word "housewares" and turned back to her work. At this point, I'm thinking it would be very beneficial to speak another language (and surprisingly, it wasn't Spanish they were speaking...LOL, one was an African dialect and the other was an Indian dialect!)!!! Better brush up on those learning skills, I guess!

1 comment:

  1. HAHAHAHAHA!!! Way too funny!!! It's crazy how that works, isn't it?! I keep wanting to say something to them in Spanish, even when I know they wouldn't understand that language. It just kinda wants to scream out there...haha. But I have to say, learning the language of where you're living could be a good idea. Although, maybe that's how they're forcing themselves to learn??? Who knows. :) Hope you find your hanging baskets. :)

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