Monday, February 09, 2004


mer-talian

i never had any trouble with the mer-talian, but then i'm handy with languages. that pidgin the people manning the superautos are required by corporate policy to speak is apparently so intimidating that the mermaid is handing out cheat sheets.

it seems also that some customers are insulted by the "call-back," whereby the counter-monkey calls out the drink to the superauto-slacker in the correct ergonomic order for faster service. many people appear to mistake this for a "correction."

when i first came to new york, i went to one of the last old-fashioned diners in new jersey, where they still used that old short-order language. "two eggs on toast" was "adam and eve on a raft."

this was considered so charming that my pals had actually dragged us all out there just to hear it. (what is it with new yorkers, diners, and disgusting limp home fries? they just love 'em. . . .)

i fail personally to see how the mer-talian is any different. but again, maybe i'm just good at dialect.

posted by fortune | 11:37 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments