I was looking for an plug adapter to make my
U.S. plugs compatible with the European outlets in Athens. After searching fruitlessly
myself for a few minutes, I approached a clerk to see if he could help
me. After trading a quick "Yasas," (hello in Greek), I proceeded to
explain what I was looking for entirely in English.
The
perplexed look on the clerks face told me that he didn't speak a lick
of English. So, I proceeded to compound his confusion by committing a
cardinal sin of international travel, which drives me nuts when I see
others do it. I repeated my explanation, only this time I spoke in a
much louder tone and with greater enunciation of my words. As
though the crisper words and higher decibel level might some how
trigger a miraculous understanding by the non-English speaking Greek
clerk standing before me.
When that unsurprisingly didn't work,
I decided to employ a round of international charades in a last ditch
effort to bridge our communication gap. I curled my hand with the thumb
pointing out and then moved it back and forth in a motion that I was
sure could be mistaken for nothing other than plugging something in to
a socket. The clerk's face suddenly lit up and he motioned for me to
follow him down one of the narrow aisles.
When we neared a small
collection of hardware items, I was sure that my masterful
communication efforts had been successful. So, I was more than a bit
surprised when he reached onto the shelf and produced a knife.
Evidently my masterful charades had led the clerk the believe I wanted to either wanted to cut something or, worse,
stab someone. I wasn't sure which one he was thinking and I was sure I didn't want to know.
A bit shocked, and slightly embarassed, at the outcome of my nonverbal interaction with the clerk, I dropped the knife and quietly snuck out the front door. I promised myself that I'd either study my Greek phrase book a bit more intently or ensure I found an English speaking clerk the next time I found myself in a similar situation. Not to mention that I think I'll be a little more patient and accomodating the whenever a non-English speaking visitor approaches me for something back home.
