Monday, April 5, 2010

One of those insert foot in mouth moments..

So the other night we went to the soccer game in our newly renovated stadium and it happened to be the night of the big reveal (which I might add was only half finished..ahem). So usually you can just walk right up and buy your tickets, the place is practically emptied. But this grand revealing was a big deal here in Ipatinga, so EVERYONE and their brother came to see.

The lines were all the way out to the street (and I use the term line loosely since you really just pick a place to stand and hope it starts to move towards the front), people were everywhere, vendors selling drinks, food, souvenirs, were everywhere. And quite frankly I was SICK of being pushed, pulled, stepped on, elbowed. I mean a girl can only take so much!

So the final straw was when this guy pushed through our “line” to get to the other side with this son, and kicked the heck out of my toe. It really hurt! So I did what any annoyed person who think no one around her understands and i said “OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW-uh” really loudly. To which the guy promptly turned around and said, “Oh, I’m sorry!…… Where are you from?” in his perfect english. To which my brain struggled to answer since I was busy processing that he spoke English.

Lesson? Stop thinking you are the only one on the planet who speaks English (even though sometimes it feels like it) and be careful what you say, you never know who understands. (I say this to Sidnei ALL THE TIME…you know practice what you preach and all that…) And not that the guy didn’t deserve it, he totally shouldn’t have kicked my toe or should have at least said excuse me. But to be fair, that’s not common practice here. Shoving is. But it was just a good reminder for me to watch myself!

6 comments:

Ballerina Girl said...

We run into these situations all the time...here there are many that at least have a working knowledge of some English...you must be careful;)

BG

Lisa said...

Oh mercy! Bless your heart.

I can not stand crowds that are close and people bumping into me. I get crazy!

Lots of learning experiences for you!

Lisa Q

Betty W said...

I like how you described the "line". That´s how they make them here too! So annoying!

That Girl said...

lol

My favorite is when missionaries go home to the States and forget that everyone speaks English here ... like complaining about the "ugly lady who just cut in line." Then they're surprised when said ugly lady turns around and shoots a very ugly look at them.

Ahem.

Corinne said...

this works both ways. How many times was I in the US and speaking Portuguese, and discovered that someone in the vicinity could understand me!

Fabiola said...

HAHA!!! I wish I was a fly and could see your face.

I love your description of the ticket line!!!