“No, I’m asking you a question.”
While on a recent cruise, I played on-board tennis with a Belgian girl and a married couple from South African. It was decided that I would play doubles with the Belgian, upon which she asked, “Which side would you like to play?”
I answered her question with a question: “Which side would you like play?”
“No, I’m asking you a question,” she authoritatively said in a thick European accent.
“Oh, right — I guess you did. I’ll take the right side,” I responded.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the language confrontation. In trying to be overly courteous, as many Americans do, I complicated what should have been a simple exchange. The take-away: forced modesty should always be avoided.
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March 5th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Blake,
You seemed to have forgotten to mention that you got the ball stuck in the net covering the court and you started throwing the Belgian Girl’s racket in the air to try and knock it loose. She didn’t like that either:)
Belgians don’t like Blake.
March 5th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
The South Africans told me to do it!