I was standing in line at a local department store waiting to pay for some things I picked up for my mother's birthday present. I noticed a family (father, mother and two teen-aged sons) in front of me. They were speaking German and obviously weren't from Mt. Juliet, TN.
The department store had several cash registers open and you have to line up and wait for them to call you when one comes open. In not too many minutes, I heard one of the cashiers far down the aisle call out, "Register nine".
The German family looked perplexed and began talking in whispers among themselves. The cashier said a bit louder, "Register nine!" Their internal family discussion became a bit more intense.
Finally the father looked back at me and asked, "Register nine?" to which I replied, "Register nine".
This threw them into an even deeper family discussion. The cashier at the far end was starting to get a bit antsy. And then it hit me and I said to the father...
"Register number nine" to which he replied, with a smile, "Yah! Register number nine!" and proceeded to the cashier who had been waiting.
As you might have guessed, he had heard, "Register, nein!" or "No register." And I had confirmed it for him that there was no register.
I suppose the moral of the story is that real communication can be a tricky thing.
The department store had several cash registers open and you have to line up and wait for them to call you when one comes open. In not too many minutes, I heard one of the cashiers far down the aisle call out, "Register nine".
The German family looked perplexed and began talking in whispers among themselves. The cashier said a bit louder, "Register nine!" Their internal family discussion became a bit more intense.
Finally the father looked back at me and asked, "Register nine?" to which I replied, "Register nine".
This threw them into an even deeper family discussion. The cashier at the far end was starting to get a bit antsy. And then it hit me and I said to the father...
"Register number nine" to which he replied, with a smile, "Yah! Register number nine!" and proceeded to the cashier who had been waiting.
As you might have guessed, he had heard, "Register, nein!" or "No register." And I had confirmed it for him that there was no register.
I suppose the moral of the story is that real communication can be a tricky thing.
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