No, I haven't fallen off of the face of the planet. I have, instead, spent the majority of my summer slaving away and hopefully earning some money to afford my London internship program. I'm working full-time at the American Cancer Society, and then part-time whenever I get called in at Old Navy. Oh, and I'm taking an online course towards my official major change. It's a busy life I lead, let me tell you.
But working in downtown Tacoma at the American Cancer Society for the summer means that I frequent Starbucks. A lot. It's a good way to kill time during my hour-long break. And I hear the strangest things in Starbucks, which will allow for an interesting segment in my blog.
I would like to bring you the first installment in: Overheard in Starbucks.
Our first example is perfect and brilliant in one small sentence. No back-story necessary. Pompous Guy came in and told his Lady Friend "actually, it's panino. Not panini. Singular." Well, Pompous Guy, if you're going to go being all pompous with Lady Friend, maybe you should at least get it right: panini, like salami, is in fact that Italian word for something plural. However, Americans and Canadians and most English-speakers have turned those plurals into generic, all-encompassing words for singular or plural. Furthermore, panino and panini both mean any sandwich not made with bread in Italy, whereas here it means any sandwich that has been pressed or toasted. Yes, I felt compelled to look it up. Thanks, Pompous Guy!
This next example happened yesterday, and it still makes me laugh. I can only imagine what was happening on the other side of these conversations...
Weird Lady walks in and takes a seat at a table near me. She's drinking coffee out of a to-go cup which she keeps setting down inside a for-here mug. Beats me. She pulls out her phone and starts making phone calls to people who are obviously surprised to be hearing from Weird Lady, and evidently haven't spoken to her in quite some time. Weird Lady begins asking these people the most bizarre questions, including "who do you think this is?" (Oh I don't know, but you called me), "I just thought it's been long enough I could call you again", "there's just so many memories. So many memories.", and my favorite "is your wife in a wheelchair yet?" (At this point, I have to wonder if she might be threatening people...) She then concludes each phone call with a coffee date (or in one case of an anti-coffee type, a tea date) in Seattle for next Wednesday. Watch out, Seattle. Weird Lady is coming to a Starbucks near you.
Stay tuned, folks.
Sarah's Cross-Atlantic and Cross-Country travels are documented in this blog, from a semester in London during her undergrad to her graduate work in Savannah, Georgia. It may also contain the occasional griping about mundane things in her everyday experiences; oh, how we do love our double meanings.
