English is such an interesting language. I think it would be relatively easy for a non-English speaker to learn some of the grammar. And you don't have to remember that a table is feminine and an apple is masculine. But the spelling and pronunciation have got to be killers. And English has a lot more words than most languages, so there is vocabulary to worry about.
Take, for example: stood and good, flood and blood, mood and food. Alll are spelled with "oo" but there are three different ways to pronounce "oo". And then consider all the other ways to spell those sounds: could and should, mud and bud, and rude, mooed, feud and chewed. Very tricky stuff.
So imagine our surprise when we returned to our room after a pleasant dinner interlude and found that water had intruded into our 'hood. We saw a pair of shoes and socks and a crew uniform coat near the entrance to our hallway. "What's that?" we mused. We spotted a large number of crewmembers lining the hallway and passing buckets from one to another. It must be a safety drill, I concluded. There were supervisors in bare feet with their pants rolled up, there were people with walkie-talkies, there were plumbers on ladders. We were getting shooed away. The door to our room opened and some crew members emerged.
"A flood!" "Not good!" "We're screwed!," we booed. A crew member asked our cabin number, and gave us a look when we told him. Bottom line: a pipe broke, water spewed, they are working, don't intrude.
"Not to worry," the passenger services rep cooed. "We have another room for you. It's water tight and you can spend the night. Just follow me."
Oh, gloom and doom. The new room was like a tomb. It was right over the lounge and the band's bass went "Boom!" It was tiny, it was small, the mattress sagged, there were bunk beds on the wall. You could not get out of the bed without a thunk as you bumped your head on the 3rd or 4th bunk. The furniture was broken, scars on the walls, there was nothing to do but wait for a call. This substitute room must be eschewed. Let's go get some food, I feel we should, food could be good for our mood.
So on standby we stood for an hour or two, and finally got into our soggy room. We did not weep, we counted sheep and went to sleep - to the sound of industrial fans, and protected from the wet carpet by wet towels.
And when we awoke, feeling somewhat renewed, it was still a wet mess.
To be continued tomorrow . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment