Listen More, Talk Less!

My boyfriend and I are on vacation. Neither of us speaks fluent Spanish, but he’s way more confident in his skills than I am. We have an early morning excursion and come back to the hotel while housekeeping is there. He goes to ask for new sheets while I step out onto the balcony.

Boyfriend: “Escúchame, señora, can we have new sheets, por favor?”

My head snaps around to look at her. She looks a little baffled but then smiles and agrees. I pull my boyfriend outside.

Me: “Do you know what you just said?!”

Boyfriend: *Proudly* “‘Excuse me, ma’am, can we have new sheets, please?'”

Me: “No! You said, ‘Listen to me’, not ‘Excuse me’! You meant ‘Perdóneme’!”

His face drained of all color and he scrambled back in.

Boyfriend: “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry! Lo siento! Noooo escúchame, no escúchame. Perdóneme! Perdóneme!”

She laughed and nodded. He apologized a million more times and we tipped her very well.