Next, a little story:
My mom had recently purchased an antique Masonite board puzzle. (You know, the Playskool toys that have a picture painted on it with a few of the shapes cut out?) It was a basic table setting, and all the objects could be placed in their spots. Tim and I were sitting on the couch, and when I spotted the puzzle (and I use the term loosely) I asked him if he'd like to play with it.
Without waiting for a reply, I began to treat him like a preschooler, teaching him how to set the table. "The plate is placed in the middle. You then put the knife and the spoon to the right, and the fork and napkin to the left. There's a cup of water here, and finally the salt and pepper."
After a moment of silence and a look from Tim, I dumped all the pieces out and said, "Now in Español!" I then proceeded to explain a second time how to set the table. "Se pone el plato aqui." I said. Tim repeated the word for plate, only how an American would. "El plate-O" I ignored him. "Pon la cucharra y el cuchillo a la derecha de el plato."
"El spoon-o... el knife-o..." he repeated in his Nacho Libre accent. He repeated the names of all the objects in his own way after I said each one. "el salt-o... el pepper-o..."
And finally, "se pone la sirvilleta y el tenador a la izquierda." I said, as I put the napkin/fork shaped piece in.
"EL SHANK-O!" Tim said proudly, as he picked up the dagger-shaped puzzle piece and used it to poke me in the gut. The incident made me laugh a little too hard, and recalling it has frequently caused me to smile innappropriately during the wrong occasions ever since.
One such occasion happened the next day in Spanish class. A Mexican kid (who speaks limited Spanish) was confused about the word for "Lake" (which is Lago) "Isn't it 'laguno?" he asked. "No, that means 'Lagoon" the teacher told him. Then quietly, to me, he added, "Oh... so I guess my relatives have been referring to it as "Lagoon Afton" all these years." Knowing how nasty that lake is, it made me laugh pretty hard -No, it made me giggle, which made me think of the last time something was humorous, which made me laugh pretty hard. (hehe... el shank-o...)
Which in turn, caused me to giggle innappropriately in another instance. "You'll never guess what my middle name is!" a girl said to a boy in my art class this morning.
He never guessed. "It starts with an A..." she hinted. "Annie!" I said. "and ends with an N... and it's the name of a lake.." She said, giving it away. "Afton." I said, which was soon followed by an insane low chuckle. I actually managed to get serious and pay attention to the teacher again before realizing what I had just done. I quickly turned back to the girl to appologize. "I really wasn't laughing at your name, honest! It just reminded me of a funny story!." I'm still not sure if she believes me, but at least I tried...
No comments:
Post a Comment