Tuesday, April 13, 2010

I No Hard Of Hearing

I had to pop into the post office the other day to mail off a few packages and got behind a Hispanic couple that had wanted to rent a post office box. This is the following conversation that took place:

Clerk: Hi, may I help you?

Hispanic male: Ola'! We want rent box?

Clerk: I'm sorry. You want to send a box?

Hisp male: Si. We want to box.

Clerk in a slightly louder voice: I'm sorry. Where do you want to send the box? Do you have the box packaged already?

With that, the slightly confused couple looked at each other, grinned widely and the female said, "Box."

The clerk, obviously already having a bad day said in a still LOUDER voice: Where do you want to send the box?

Couple: Si. (smiling and nodding their heads)

Clerk absolutely screaming at this point: WHERE DO YOU WANT TO SEND THE BOX? DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? WHERE IS THE BOX GOING?

Hisp male: Ooooh. Here. (And with that he handed over the P.O. box rental application.)


The clerk now understood that he didn't want to send a box, he wanted to rent a box and walked away in a snit to get the process started. The couple began having a conversation in Spanish and I didn't understand any of what they were saying until the man turned around and caught my eye. He looked at me thoughtfully for a second and said, "Why was that lady yelling at me? I no hard of hearing? I just want box."

I just shrugged my shoulders because I have been guilty of that, too. Has that ever happened to you? Have you tried to communicate with someone that speaks another language and found yourself almost yelling at them because they just don't get what you're saying?

Language barriers can be funny and frustrating at the same time.

5 comments:

Nedine Says said...

Funny, If someone DOESN"T understand you when you are speaking in a normal tone why would they UNDERSTAND you when you are shouting ? Is comprehension tied to vocal volumne ? Is non-comprehsnsion due to deafness? Food for thought.

Grampy said...

All I know is that was funny. I wish I had been there. I have seen that before.

Anonymous said...

So, if you just say the same thing more loudly, and more angrily, it is more likely to be understood? I find it demeaning.

Really like your blog.

Anonymous said...

I remember taking my daughter and her Thai friend to the emergency room after an accident. The nurse would shout her questions to my and then my daughter would ask her friend. Then the nurse would ask the next question, talking through my daughter to her Thai friend. It was surreal. The entire conversation was in English. The Thai friend was talking English. So was my daughter.

Marla said...

We sure are a strange species, aren't we? lol

Share/Bookmark

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin