I’ve just come back from a trip to buy groceries. Now, it’s a faster process than in Iceland, because I can read all of the labels and signs. The checkout, on the other hand, is surprisingly similar to my Icelandic experience.
I can’t understand what the clerks are saying to me.
I find myself responding by rote, based on what part of the transaction we are at. It is astonishing. Some of this comes from people who are speaking English as a second language. I don’t begrudge them the incomprehensibility of their speech. I’ve been there myself and understand. But the majority of them are native speakers who mumble. Would it really kill them to open their mouth when speaking? I know they can speak loudly; I’ve heard them on their cellphones. I just want to be able to understand what they are saying when I check out.
Shared frustration. Young women who answer the phone at the beauty parlor, the box office, or where ever – speak so rapidly, so mumbled, so elided I must ask for several repeats, or simply guess at what the pronuncement (I use that word jokingly) was. Why is this???
I get a kick out of calling the downtown Portland architectural firm Yost Grube Hall, because the receptionist’s quick and slurring delivery comes out sounding a lot like “You screwball.”
Momk: You understand my point exactly.
David: That’s hilarious.
Unfortunately, the flip side, in the opposite direction, is also too often true: No matter how clearly, concisely, and with deliberate measured pace I pronounce an order at a quick-serve establishment, at least 50 percent of the time the person has to ask me twice or just gets it wrong. I try to deliver my order in a complete, evenly-paced sentence, and they respond by going through their automatic verbal ritual of asking for each piece of the series I’ve just given them in toto: For here or to go? Venti or grande? Did you say decaf? Evidently, fast-serve also means no-listen.
Grrrrrrr! I just finished ‘talking’ with a bank clerk on the phone. It sounded as if she were asking for my ‘ bank balance’. I said, “Excuse me, that’s why I am calling YOU!” Turns out she was asking my for my “bank branch?” Her speaking & slurring a mile a minute made branch sound like balance to my ears.
How frustrating!
I know they can speak loudly; I’ve heard them on their cellphones
LOL! Spoken like a true New Yorker — you’re going native!
😉
Dario
It’s true. I got annoyed at tourists the other day.