My Friends And Other Animals
(I’m French and I’m on vacation with friends in Germany. I’m the only person in my group who’s not a native German speaker and even though I understand everything they tell me, I’m definitely not bilingual. Among my group, there are two ten-year-old girls who think my way of speaking is quite funny. Now, we are outside and there are many wasps around. I’m VERY afraid of wasps, bees, and other stinging insects. Suddenly, I feel something on my head. I try to keep calm and to remember the German word for wasps.)
Me: *in German* “Is there a bzz-bzz on my head?”
(The little girls burst into mad laughter. I try hard to keep calm as I’m still wondering if there’s something on my head.)
Grown-Up Friend: “No, there’s nothing on your head.”
Girl #1: “There’s no bzz-bzz on your head!”
Grown-Up Friend: “You see, [Girl #1], this is universal language!”
Girl #1: “I speak universal language! I like miaow-miaows!”
Girl #2: “I prefer woof-woofs!”
Me: “I don’t like bzz-bzzs. What’s the German word for bzz-bzz?”
Grown-Up Friend: “It’s waspe.”
Me: “Thank you very much.”
(The little girls kept using ‘universal language’ for some time. At least I made them laugh!)
Did you find this story using our World Bee Day roundup?
Question of the Week
Have you ever served a bad customer who got what they deserved?
