Lilac Colored Glasses

It’s not abnormal for me to take orders in multiple languages.

Dutch and English are easy, obviously, and I know enough French to get through most of those orders as well (although for some odd reason, I always mess up eighty and say “octante” instead of “huitante”). At this point I also know basic words in Spanish…enough that I can ask if someone wants milk, sugar, chocolate, cinnamon or whipped cream. Point being, the main stumbling block for me isn’t the language itself, but rather the fact that I can’t always figure out which language I need to speak right away. There are some times where I hear a key word or accent that gives it away, but sometimes, if a person just comes up and says “cappuccino” it takes a bit more digging to figure out which language to use.

Of course, the default language is Dutch, but if it becomes obvious that the person doesn’t understand I try English, then French and lastly I may blurt some Spanish, although my manager is Portuguese and one of my coworkers is Mexican, so I rarely have to tread Spanish waters linguistically. But anyway, tonight a guy came up to the register and I thought I heard him say “Cappucino, s’il tu plait.” Granted, that in itself was a bit odd because most francophones don’t use the familiar “tu” with a strange cashier, but rather the formal “vous”. But I figured I better switch over to French, so I asked, “avec du sucre?”

And he looked at me and said “what?”

So I tried again, “with sugar?”

And he continued to look blank so I defaulted back to Dutch, “met suiker?”

To which he shook his head no. So I gave him the total in Dutch, which he paid, saying “alstublieft” as he did. I then told him (still speaking Dutch) that I’d thought he’d said “s’il tu plait” which is why I’d spoken French. He smiled and nodded. Then I asked him in Dutch is he wanted chocolate or cinnamon on the cappuccino.

“Chocolade poeder of kaneel?”

To which he looked at me blankly again and in French said, “Je parle francais.”

“…er…chocolat ou canelle?”

“Oui, oui,” he said and then as I handed him the drink he said, “Merci, bon journee,” and walked away.

And then my head exploded.

But no, seriously, I thought a sprocket or two in my brain must’ve come loose, cause what the hell had that just been??? I turned to my two coworkers who had apparently been doubled over laughing for most of the time and the look on my face just made them laugh even harder. And they totally confirmed that no, I had not lost my mind or had a mild attack of amnesia. The guy had started off in French, then seemed to switch to Dutch and at the end switched back to French.

I’m telling you, the customers, they’re out to get me.

Related posts:

1. Dear Customers
2. Little Rays of Sunshine
3. Stuck in my Head
4. Repetez s’il vous plais
5. Update Type Thing
6. The Oy Vey – Amai Connection
7. Banging My Head Off The Desk
8. The Voices In My Head