The Blue-Collar Diet

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Language Barrier

Our porta-toilet maintenance man came again today, thus restoring the pristine luster of a freshly cleaned job site throne. Seeing the crap-hauling truck arrive reminded me of a story that happened at my first Tahoe job.

The first job I had after moving here was at a local bank, and there was another employee in one of the branches I worked at who happened to move here from Australia.

On one particular day, my Aussie friend happened to be talking on the phone, and I overheard him say that someone was quite the Johnny-On-The-Spot. However, based on the context of the rest of the conversation, I did not think that he was trying to insult the person in question, as he had been speaking highly of the individual up until that last sentence.

When he finished the call and replaced the receiver, I asked him, "Hey man, I'm wondering if the phrase, Johnny-On-The-Spot, means something different here than it does in your country?"

He replied, "Why, what does it mean here?"

I explained to him that pretty much everyone in our country defines a Johnny-On-The-Spot as being the big plastic toilet that you see on job sites and outdoors events.

He just started laughing like crazy after the explanation, and informed me that in Australia, calling someone a Johnny-On-The-Spot meant that you considered him reliable and competent; kind of like saying he was a "Go-To Guy." He told me that he was definitely not trying to insult the person, and that he was amazed that the phrase could have such a drastically different meaning here.

The look on his face when I explained that he had just mistakenly called someone a big shithouse was absolutely classic. However, the best part of the moment was watching him call back to the lady that he had been talking with in an attempt to smooth over any misunderstanding. As I sat there watching him squirm while trying to explain the language difference without crossing any lines, I had to bite my fist to keep from laughing out loud.

Weight

I finished the day out at 177 pounds….I think I may be building some muscle mass or something. (Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.)

This week will be another short week thankfully. I am flying back to the Midwest tonight to attend a wedding, so there will not be a Friday update this week. I will return to my regular updates on Monday.

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