Espanol 101
Now I took four semesters of Spanish in college as it was required to graduate. Unfortunately for the later me, I took it pass/fail because I had much harder courses in my major to do well in and I worked full-time in a restaurant (of course). So essentially, I didn't learn a thing.
Fast forward to moving to New York where knowing Spanish is nearly a requirement, especially in the restaurant business where bussers, waiters and kitchen crews are most often from Latin American countries. Now it didn't make much of a problem for me because they practiced their english as much as possible and what they didn't know, they were able to communicate by hand signals and such. Their conversations were a mystery to me, but as I felt shy about using the Spanish I knew, I never learned more than "Como esta" and "My nombre is...".
One night I was waiting on a table that needed their food prepared to take home. The busser, fresh from Mexico, helped me clear the table. I asked him to wrap it up. A few minutes later, when the food didn't arrive to the table, I found the busser scraping the plates into the garbage. I screamed, "oh, no! Shit!" and the busser looked at me strangely. I had to go to the table now and explain that their food was gone for good. As words in Spanish often resemble those in English (i.e. medico, invitar, norte) I remembered one word from Spanish 102. I exclaimed, "Estoy embarazada!" thinking I said, "I'm so embarrassed!" Little did I know that I had just announced to the whole kitchen that I was pregnant.
After that, the other employees treated me with kid gloves; helping me with my trays, clearing my tables and often asking me if I was all right. I had no idea that the word had spread or even that I had said what I did. I especially found it odd that other waiters were so anxious to help me in what was a competitive atmosphere for tips.
A couple days later the boss came to me and asked if my pregnancy would interfere with my ability to do my job. "What pregnancy? Who told you that?" He explained that the whole restaurant knew and that if I chose to have an abortion, I could get a couple days off. In return, I explained that I was not, in fact, pregnant and I had no idea that I had said anything of the kind. But he pointed out that I had announced it to the kitchen a couple days before. "Didn't you say you were "embarazada?" Yes. "Don't you know it means pregnant?" Oooops!
That night I learned my first most important restaurant Spanish lingo after that. Para llevar. To go.
Fast forward to moving to New York where knowing Spanish is nearly a requirement, especially in the restaurant business where bussers, waiters and kitchen crews are most often from Latin American countries. Now it didn't make much of a problem for me because they practiced their english as much as possible and what they didn't know, they were able to communicate by hand signals and such. Their conversations were a mystery to me, but as I felt shy about using the Spanish I knew, I never learned more than "Como esta" and "My nombre is...".
One night I was waiting on a table that needed their food prepared to take home. The busser, fresh from Mexico, helped me clear the table. I asked him to wrap it up. A few minutes later, when the food didn't arrive to the table, I found the busser scraping the plates into the garbage. I screamed, "oh, no! Shit!" and the busser looked at me strangely. I had to go to the table now and explain that their food was gone for good. As words in Spanish often resemble those in English (i.e. medico, invitar, norte) I remembered one word from Spanish 102. I exclaimed, "Estoy embarazada!" thinking I said, "I'm so embarrassed!" Little did I know that I had just announced to the whole kitchen that I was pregnant.
After that, the other employees treated me with kid gloves; helping me with my trays, clearing my tables and often asking me if I was all right. I had no idea that the word had spread or even that I had said what I did. I especially found it odd that other waiters were so anxious to help me in what was a competitive atmosphere for tips.
A couple days later the boss came to me and asked if my pregnancy would interfere with my ability to do my job. "What pregnancy? Who told you that?" He explained that the whole restaurant knew and that if I chose to have an abortion, I could get a couple days off. In return, I explained that I was not, in fact, pregnant and I had no idea that I had said anything of the kind. But he pointed out that I had announced it to the kitchen a couple days before. "Didn't you say you were "embarazada?" Yes. "Don't you know it means pregnant?" Oooops!
That night I learned my first most important restaurant Spanish lingo after that. Para llevar. To go.
posted by manicgirl at 9:19 AM
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