This post will be more of a situational blog about a moment I had this morning.
I stopped into a Panera Bread this morning and heard a funny exchange between an employee and a customer. I was in line to get some coffee and a bagel, cinnamon crunch if you were wondering, and a customer stepped up to the counter and asked for a bag. He didn't stand in line to make his request which was understandable because he just needed a bag and no one seemed to mind. But his request took a little longer than he expected. I'll transcribe the conversation that took place to the best of my memory.
Customer: Hi. Can I get a bag?
Employee: A bagel?
Customer: No, a bag.
Employee: Sorry, a baid?
Customer: ...a bag. You know a bag. (holds up an imaginary bag)
Employee: Sorry, I don't know what a baid is.
Customer: No not a bai-d. A bag. (points to one that was just given to another customer)
Employee: Oh, a bag.
Customer: Yeah, a bag.
Employee: What a funny way to say "bag". Where are you from? (hands him a bag)
This was the point in which I did a mental face-palm.
Customer: Thanks. Canada. (smiles politely and walks away)
Now aside from this exchange taking more than 5 seconds the funny part was that the customer had a particular Canadian accent which made the word bag sound more like baig. If you live in the northern states or are even just aware of Canada in general you would have known what the guy was asking for from the moment he spoke. Many of our own states in the north even share the same accent. But this is the south. If you don't speak like a southerner or mid-westerner, you're a foreigner.
I won't support the stereotype that these states, down here, are all just full of ignorant rednecks complete with the accent but this was definitely a scenario that supports that stereotype. It was obvious that the Canadian had patience for this sort of misunderstanding. But I suppose you have to when you are in a region that isn't native to your accent or pronunciation... yes, the employee's southern accent was as thick as it gets. (I am so glad I dodged that bullet living down here) I thought it was a humorous situation but it made me think on the way to my next destination. Are people down here bottled so air-tight that they aren't even familiar with the accent of our great white northern neighbor? I am a proponent for people broadening their world view and Canada seems like a good place to start for the US since it's only a border away.
I was definitely embarrassed for the employee even though she didn't seem to be embarrassed herself. Misunderstandings are... well, understandable. But this was quiet a display. It makes me wonder if some Canadians would have just as hard a time understanding someone with a southern accent.
I stopped into a Panera Bread this morning and heard a funny exchange between an employee and a customer. I was in line to get some coffee and a bagel, cinnamon crunch if you were wondering, and a customer stepped up to the counter and asked for a bag. He didn't stand in line to make his request which was understandable because he just needed a bag and no one seemed to mind. But his request took a little longer than he expected. I'll transcribe the conversation that took place to the best of my memory.
Customer: Hi. Can I get a bag?
Employee: A bagel?
Customer: No, a bag.
Employee: Sorry, a baid?
Customer: ...a bag. You know a bag. (holds up an imaginary bag)
Employee: Sorry, I don't know what a baid is.
Customer: No not a bai-d. A bag. (points to one that was just given to another customer)
Employee: Oh, a bag.
Customer: Yeah, a bag.
Employee: What a funny way to say "bag". Where are you from? (hands him a bag)
This was the point in which I did a mental face-palm.
Customer: Thanks. Canada. (smiles politely and walks away)
Now aside from this exchange taking more than 5 seconds the funny part was that the customer had a particular Canadian accent which made the word bag sound more like baig. If you live in the northern states or are even just aware of Canada in general you would have known what the guy was asking for from the moment he spoke. Many of our own states in the north even share the same accent. But this is the south. If you don't speak like a southerner or mid-westerner, you're a foreigner.
I won't support the stereotype that these states, down here, are all just full of ignorant rednecks complete with the accent but this was definitely a scenario that supports that stereotype. It was obvious that the Canadian had patience for this sort of misunderstanding. But I suppose you have to when you are in a region that isn't native to your accent or pronunciation... yes, the employee's southern accent was as thick as it gets. (I am so glad I dodged that bullet living down here) I thought it was a humorous situation but it made me think on the way to my next destination. Are people down here bottled so air-tight that they aren't even familiar with the accent of our great white northern neighbor? I am a proponent for people broadening their world view and Canada seems like a good place to start for the US since it's only a border away.
I was definitely embarrassed for the employee even though she didn't seem to be embarrassed herself. Misunderstandings are... well, understandable. But this was quiet a display. It makes me wonder if some Canadians would have just as hard a time understanding someone with a southern accent.
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