“The court clerk is downstairs” she was saying slowly to a young Hispanic gentleman.
“Can you tell him the clerk is on the sixth floor for me KaraMia?” she asked, turning to me.
“Oh, sure” A few weeks previously I had printed out some cheat sheets with phrases both in English and Spanish for our front counter. We have a large population of Hispanic people who come to court and they don’t always speak English. While I can usually direct them in broken Spanish, I wanted to do something that made it easier for them to understand me, hence my little Spanish language version of cliff notes.
“El empleado para el tribunal esta en el sexto piso” I tell him, my Spanish cobwebbed and creaky from years of non use.
I glance up to see him looking at me with a half grin hanging off his face, “you can speak English.” He says with a slight accent.
My jaw drops, my cheeks ignite and I glare at my coworker with beams of molten lava.
“Oh. Um, ok. Then you need to go to the sixth floor, the court clerk is located there.”
“Thanks” he says, the grin bouncing out over the word. I watch him leave the office and turn to face my coworker who was busily arranging some papers on her desk and doing everything possible to appear innocent.
“What the hell was that!” I ask her
Her shoulders are shaking with suppressed laughter and she looks at me, hands held palms up in the age old sign of, “OOPS”
“He said he needed and interpreter for court. I assumed that meant he couldn’t speak English.” She pleaded her case.
“You know what they say about assuming...” I shot back
“Yes” she replied, “But looks like this time it only made and ass outta YOU”
Score one for coworker, negative five for the jack ass wearing my face today.
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had this to say:
Grrr. I hate it when people do that crap.
- 7:59 PM, February 15, 2007
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had this to say:
Sounds like you owe your coworker one.
Don't worry though, that guy's probably used to it. I get asked all the time if I speak English. We have a large hispanic population here, so I can see where it happens since so many don't speak English. It gets old sometimes, but it's no big.- 10:15 PM, February 15, 2007
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ƒåυνέ had this to say:
You are plotting revenge, right?
- 6:10 AM, February 16, 2007
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Gypsy had this to say:
Doh! ;)
- 7:12 AM, February 16, 2007
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Carrie had this to say:
Dontcha love how people make you look like a complete dumbass?
I get made fun of a lot. One of the girls that used to work here spoken spanish fluently and all I can say cerveza por favor. That doesn't work well at the insurance office. So for some reason I talk really loud to them like they are deaf or something.
I write an app at least once a week with neither of us understanding each other.- 8:12 AM, February 16, 2007
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*~*Cece*~* had this to say:
I'm so glad I don't work face to face w/the public anymore. I use to have people assume I speak Spanish just b/c I'm hispanic. They'd be all blah blah blah & I'd have to stop them and tell them I have NO idea what they just said. Then I'd get the Why didn't your parents teach you to speak Spanish lecture. Umm, because we're American and not Mexican. D'oh!
- 9:54 AM, February 16, 2007
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had this to say:
Up here we don't have that issue, but you definitely have to work around the Finnish accents. Talk about messed up!
- 2:26 PM, February 16, 2007
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Kristen had this to say:
giggle! can't wait to see what you come up with for your co-worker. *snort!*
i tend to surprise the latino spanish speaking world with the fact that i speak and understand spanish being as white as i am. it was especially fun when someone was speaking smack about me as i was walking by to her friends thinking i couldn't understand. i proceeded to ask her a few questions in spanish. heh heh. she was mortified.- 10:37 AM, February 17, 2007
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had this to say:
Was he cute? Single? Hey, man, don't knock ANY opportunities here!
- 1:38 PM, February 17, 2007
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Deech had this to say:
KaraMia,
Better this happened to you than to me. It seems that you have a much better temperment for it than I do. I feel that you have a great sense of Compassion, I can never have.
I would have looked at my co-worker and added the following: "Ahh CoWorker, have you ever heard the Klingon proverb that states that a revenge is a dish best served cold?" - Thank you Ricardo Maltalban!
Flyinfox_SATX- 12:16 PM, February 19, 2007
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Callie had this to say:
Stupid blogger ate my comment.
I've decided I hate beta.
Anyway - I would have been mortified if that had happened to me.
Your coworker so owes you lunch.
But TSM has a point - was he cute??- 11:17 AM, February 21, 2007
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JR's Thumbprints had this to say:
Sounds like a typical public employee. A few employees do the work, while the others are busy finding ways not to do anything.
- 11:52 PM, February 24, 2007
