Friday, September 28, 2007
They Speak With Other Tongues
Today I did a road test for a Hispanic guy with the name - Jesus Sacramental Alvarez-Hidalgo (the Alvarez-Hidalgo family evidently wanting to keep all the bases covered when naming their son). For some reason this prompted me to compose a blog entry to liven up the Johnson page (although I have to admit, the Jerry Johnson Car post is a classic). I have been seeing Jesus a lot lately. This month I had one car with a license plate that read - JESUS Y. I got in another car and had to ask Mr. Rodriguez to remove the 5" x 7" picture of Jesus (shown above) from in front of his speedometer before we could begin. Then there was the car that had Jesus hanging on a one foot tall crucifix that stood on a little mound of Calvary that was located between the front van seats. All of this is quite normal in my business. Most cars driven by Hispanics will display a holy card or two, or have a rosary or an Our Lady of Guadalupe card hanging from the rearview mirror. One conversion van last year topped them all. On the driver side of the cloth covered dash was a sticker of the Holy Family and another of St. Christopher. Pasted on different places on the control panel were stickers or holy cards of Jesus (wearing thorns), Jesus on the cross, the Holy Family (Mary w/Jesus as a baby), and Our Lady of Guadalupe. There was a nice wood rosary hanging from the rear view mirror, and below that on the dash was a little plastic statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Above the front window, hanging from the ceiling across the entire front, were two inches of golden yarn like fringe, interspearsed with holy cards, giving the whole interior the feeling of a rolling chapel. and in front of me on the passenger side dash was a little rubber figure of . . . Sponge Bob Square Pants! He must have been covered the day I skipped out of CCD class.
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Jackie and I have learned enough Spanish to be able to conduct a driver test without an interperter. For example, Al la sienta caiya, a la der rechio (don't know the spelling in Spanish), means - At the next street, turn right. But I have also picked up some words for "left", "right", "straight", "light", "horn", and other words in such languages as Polish, Portuguise, and Cambodian. "Right" in Cambodian is "bot staaam", "left" is "bot swaaainn", "straight" is "trong", horn is "beepkay", and "turn left at the second light" is "tee pee plueng, bot swaaainn". The other day, after listening to a translator, I learned two new Cambodian words. The word for "stop sign" is "stop SINE", and the word for "highway" is "high WAAY". The humor, of course, is that apparently one can take any English word and say the last part with a Cambodian inflection to make it Cambodian. I suppose if I went to a Cambodian resturant and ordered a "cof EEE" with extra "sug AAR", they would know what I was talking about. Today I did a test for a Peruvian guy and he, impressed with my teriffic Spanish skills, asked in his broken English if I could speak any other languages. I told him about learning the two new Cambodian words, and he replied, without so much as a smile, "Oh, you made funny". When you do stand up, multi-cultural comedy, sitting down, for an audience of one, you take satisfaction however you can get it.
# posted by Bob @ 10:05 PM 
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I think your funny Bob!
I compare this to my working with kids with mental disabilities. I crack jokes all day long and no one gets them, because their cognitive level is so low, but it keeps me going! It's only when I'm observed by an adult that someone can appreciate the eccentric humor our family has!
Keep on with the jokes, I'm sure Jesus whether he has a crown of thorns in a picture on or in a sticker form, He appreciates your efforts! :o)
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I compare this to my working with kids with mental disabilities. I crack jokes all day long and no one gets them, because their cognitive level is so low, but it keeps me going! It's only when I'm observed by an adult that someone can appreciate the eccentric humor our family has!
Keep on with the jokes, I'm sure Jesus whether he has a crown of thorns in a picture on or in a sticker form, He appreciates your efforts! :o)
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