Thursday, July 13, 2006

post the eighty-third

This job has turned out to give me way more amusing stories and anecdotes than I had anticipated. I'm really excited about it. This story is actually true and not made up in the slightest.

My co-workers and I were all filling out our time cards at the start of work when in walked our newest co-worker, who promptly said, "Is anyone else feeling languid today?" Languid, of course, isn't the sort of word one uses on a regular basis, but it's a word that I understand, and so responded by saying that yes, it was a hot day and I was feeling tired and sluggish myself.

The mere fact that I responded to this question unleashed an avalanche of comments from those with whom I work. Angry Girl immediately responded by saying, "You know that word?" Several others echoed with similar sentiments. Apparently it genuinely surprised these people that I would know a word like languid. The young man who initially said the word (we'll call him "Bryce") got defensive and said, "You speak English, don't you?" Things only got nastier from there. Angry Girl was insistent that while she spoke English, she wouldn't use weird words like languid in conversation. This went back and forth for some time, so I decided to excuse myself from the room, barely containing my laughter at the whole situation. Honestly.

Bryce, incidentally, was also blown away that I would be reading a book like Anna Karenina. I'm getting the impression more and more that I don't quite fit in with the people I work with. As long as they keep giving me entertaining stories, though, I'll continue to stay on.

5 comments:

Melyngoch said...

Friend, if you don't work for Orem City Parks someday, you'll regret it for the rest of your anecdote-telling life.

Tolkien Boy said...

Yes. We can assume that no other place in the world has employees who think that e.e. cummings is Middle English.

Mina said...

oh goodness. i always get so flustered when people snark at me for knowing a word they don't. although bryce sounds like winner for using "languid" in everyday conversation.

zookeeper08 said...

Frankly, with all this heat, I'm feeling a bit languid myself...

Thanks for the entertainment, O.

K.

Redoubt said...

Languid is one of my favorites. Angry Girl is lame, but in an amusing way.