Thursday, March 3, 2011

On Friendly Interactions

I've noticed lately that a few of my colleagues are now addressing me in Creole (instead of French or English) as a way of teaching me some basics.  It's not sticking, but I appreciate the friendly effort.  It's not all flowers and sunshine at work: on any given day, I assume at least two people think I'm the spawn of Satan, so I take special note of friendly interactions.

I just went looking for someone in another building and on my way out, I was stopped by three colleagues who tugged at my flowered skirt and black blouse and asked me questions in Creole - I had to guess:  was it "where did you get this outfit?", "why are you dressed up?" or something else?

What I did understand was "do you have kids?" followed by "do you have a boyfriend?" then more tugs at my clothes which I was given to understand meant that they liked my perky yellow heels and the way I was dressed and thought it was a good outfit for getting a boyfriend.  So, of course, I told them that I don't have a boyfriend, but ask me again at the end of the day!

Hilarious!  I am so, so funny!  Their throw-back-your-head laughter followed me all the way out the building.  

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