A couple years ago I was on a layover in Paris and had just got into the hotel elevator when I saw two older polyester pants wearing women approaching. I held the door open for them and asked " what floor ladies" one of them gasped with excitement and said " Oh lord, you speak American ! We’ve been hear 3 days and nobody will speak American to us! Thank you " 
They were from Tennessee.
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For the life of me I don’t understand why people don’t at least try to learn some survival language when they travel to other countries. It’s just the polite thing to do as a guest in their country. I’ve found that if you make a minimal effort people will do what they can to help you out.
This reminded me to do my Duolingo lessons today.
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The internal voice was distinctly southern when I read that.
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I’m fortunate that my residents and Attendings at the VA respect my own Navy Corpsman background… I tel levery new resident ( 3 years cycle) to go ahead and talk to me like I was in the rounds/conference with them… If I hear somethign Im unfamiliar with I will ask them
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Kids wanted Taco Bell tonight, so I caved and grabbed some on my way home. Their drive thru is now entirely AI. I didn’t talk to a person, just a robot.
The process was fine, it just kinda rubbed me the wrong way.
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I’ll bet AI can’t comprehend someone saying “hold the onions”.
I never use the drive thru. I think the Lethal Weapon movies had an opinion on drive thrus.
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It did a good job, actually. I have some picky eaters at my house, so I ordered a chalupa with only the beef and cheese, and a chicken salad with no pico. Got both of those mod requests correct. I was pretty surprised.
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Went to Czech Republic by way of 3 days in Paris. We spent a month or two listening to basic hello!, Thank you, How may I find…? kinds of stuff. In Paris, people were not rude but fairly non-plussed. In Prague, people were ecstatic to be addressed in heir native language. It’s fun to learn just a little bit while recognizing beautiful people in beautiful foreign countries.
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Google translate works everywhere and is a great way to pick up some language survival skills fast
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FWIW I found studying cultures and customs to be probably more valuable than language. By showing an understanding of those, you can get a ton of “patience points” earned in working through communication issues.
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To the peeves, accidentally injecting my insulin shot into a vein. It totally screws me up for three days with whipsawing blood sugars and screwed up vitals. Nevermind the massive intestinal purge after the crashing low.
Yeah, it sucks.
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Not sure this is really a peeve but can one of you guys explain to me the difference between:
–and–
Why does KSL have two websites and why are the sports articles completely different. Seems so weird?
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T1D or T2D? I’ve had T1D for 50 years now. I validate your Pet Peeve!
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That is weird. The first one in your post is only men’s sports, while the second link includes women’s sports. It seems the first one is just for men, while the second one seems to be something like an RSS type news feed.
Here in Utah, Taco Time >> Taco Bell. Not 5 star or anything, but decent for fast food.
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T2D and the peeve doesn’t happen often, but when it does…suck city.
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Language evolves. If we could speak to an Englishman (or especially a Scot) in about 1500 we would not understand almost anything he says. To me the key thing is that we communicate effectively. (I love accents, by the way.)
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When Rocker and I purchased the site we agreed, in consultation with the other mods and administrators, to keep the politics and war forum because it was a big part of the board’s tradition and history. It was also part of the reason many people left the board, because of the highly contentious atmosphere of our politics these days. The compromise we came up with was to make P&W a forum that people had to make a conscious decision to join, and to keep the other forums free of politics. It’s for the good of the board.
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So true. I think I’ve been to France eight times now, four for work, and it’s so apparent that if you just recognize and practice a few simple things you will be treated well. Just knowing that it is cordial to say, “bonjour,” when you enter a shop and, “au revoir,” when you leave goes a long way. Also, a big one I learned from our Airbus rep, is don’t just go into an eating establishment or bar and take a seat. Ask first if you may sit where you see empty. It’s just in their culture.
The first time I went to France in 2007 I was really worried about language and worked hard to get the basic greetings down. I got so good at it that they would think I actually knew French, so I also learned to ask if they spoke English for when my four known phrases were exhausted. Virtually everyone was happy to help at that point. The only Americans I saw treated poorly was a group of loud, Texas-sounding, folks bellowing, “What kinda beer y’all got?” at a sidewalk cafe near the Arch d’Triumph. We were treated much better because we respected our hosts. .
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Mrs. SkinyUte loves Taco Time, but even just the smell of it grosses me out.
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