She Doesn’t Know That You Don’t Know, You Know?

I work with a woman for whom English is not her first language. Her English is actually great, but I think she thinks it is a lot worse than it actually is, so she overcompensates… which leads to scenarios like this.

Coworker: “Do you know what happened to the towels in the bathroom?”

Me: “No, I don’t.”

Coworker: “Oh. Well, I sent them to be cleaned at [Other Location]. Do you know?”

Me: “I don’t know.”

Coworker: “Oh. Well, I put a tag on them and sent them to [Other Location] to clean, but they didn’t come back. Do you know?”

Me: “I. Don’t. Know.”

Coworker: “Oh. Okay.”

I turn around to gather my stuff to go home.

Coworker: “But I put a tag on them. And sent them to [Other Location] for cleaning. And they didn’t come back. Do you know?”

I turn back to her with an incredulous look.

Coworker: “Oh. You don’t know.”

Me: “No. I don’t.”

She was actually quite intelligent and knew three or four different languages, but… boy, her questions could sure be tiring sometimes.