Last Saturday I worked at Fareway and a Mexican family came in. We have a few Mexican families that come in regularly so this is not a huge deal. They speek to each other in Spanish really fast and I can't usually understand them. But this time was different.
When the little boy got into trouble, the father started to mildly yell at his son in Spanish. This was right in front of my check stand so I heard everything that he said. I picked up on most of what he was saying and got the "jist" of it. I was kind of excited at that point just because I could understand him a little bit. They were done shopping so they came into my lane. I finish checking their groceries and told them their total.
One usual thing that happens when people buy gift cards at Fareway is that they buy them for a value of $25. There total was $68.65. I explained to her (because she had two gift cards) how to use the gift card. She ran both of them through and had $13.65 left to pay. When I told her this she looked at me funny because she didn't fully understand what I was saying. My first thought was, "how am I going to tell her she has this left?" I started translating in my head when the father translated for me and told her in spanish. When he started speeking I didn't realize that he was talking in Spanish because I was picking up on everything that he was saying.
She resonded that she didn't have any more cards to pay me. He told her that he could pay for the rest and took out his wallet. He handed me a 20 dollar bill and said "Here you go." (In English to be polite.)
I typed it into my cash redgister and handed him his change back. When they left, the little boy waved by to me and I said "hasta luegos." His dad looked at me and just smiled because he figured out that I knew some Spanish after all. :D
I didn't have another customer right away after that family so I ran over to Ryan Long to tell him what had just happened. I was super stoked because I could actually pick up on Spanish in the "real world". He asked me why I didn't speek to them in Spanish and have a conversation. I thought about it for a few seconds. I didn't talk to them in Spanish because I was afraid that I would make a fool of myself. Next time they come in though, they better watch out. I am going to (attempt to) use my Spanish-speeking skills on them! ;)
When the little boy got into trouble, the father started to mildly yell at his son in Spanish. This was right in front of my check stand so I heard everything that he said. I picked up on most of what he was saying and got the "jist" of it. I was kind of excited at that point just because I could understand him a little bit. They were done shopping so they came into my lane. I finish checking their groceries and told them their total.
One usual thing that happens when people buy gift cards at Fareway is that they buy them for a value of $25. There total was $68.65. I explained to her (because she had two gift cards) how to use the gift card. She ran both of them through and had $13.65 left to pay. When I told her this she looked at me funny because she didn't fully understand what I was saying. My first thought was, "how am I going to tell her she has this left?" I started translating in my head when the father translated for me and told her in spanish. When he started speeking I didn't realize that he was talking in Spanish because I was picking up on everything that he was saying.
She resonded that she didn't have any more cards to pay me. He told her that he could pay for the rest and took out his wallet. He handed me a 20 dollar bill and said "Here you go." (In English to be polite.)
I typed it into my cash redgister and handed him his change back. When they left, the little boy waved by to me and I said "hasta luegos." His dad looked at me and just smiled because he figured out that I knew some Spanish after all. :D
I didn't have another customer right away after that family so I ran over to Ryan Long to tell him what had just happened. I was super stoked because I could actually pick up on Spanish in the "real world". He asked me why I didn't speek to them in Spanish and have a conversation. I thought about it for a few seconds. I didn't talk to them in Spanish because I was afraid that I would make a fool of myself. Next time they come in though, they better watch out. I am going to (attempt to) use my Spanish-speeking skills on them! ;)
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