Lost in translation?

[Setsunaela]

Ok so I was in the local Subway store, with some of my friends, taking a break from our game of D&D. I was last to order, and right behind me was another group. The employees up front both spoke with a Pakistani accent, the female's was rather thick but understandable, and the male's was just there enough to be heard, but he spoke quite well. (all relevant!)
The group behind us was a pair of black women, both with the same thick accent, probably from an African country. As the male was busy with my order, the female was trying to get these ladies' orders, and was doing rather well, except that she had to ask them to repeat themselves occasionally. She seemed rather polite, and even a little embarrassed that she had to ask, but the lady she was speaking to kept getting more and more irritated.
Finally at the end, where you get condiments/sauces, the lady asked for Mustard. Well, she asked for "Oneee Moose-tard" to which the employee asked, "Only mustard?"
Rather than say "yes" or "no" appropriately, the customer simply repeated herself "Oneee Moose-tard"
"Only mustard?"
"Oneee Moose-tard" employee finally gives up, and figures maybe she's just confirming, yes only mustard, and put plain yellow mustard on the sub.
Upon seeing this, the customer started YELLING at the poor woman "NO NO NO ONEEE MUSTARD ONEEEE ONEEEE CAN'T YOU HEAR?!" and her companion is now yelling also "GOD THESE PEOPLE CANNOT SPEAK ANY ENGLISH THEY CANNOT HEAR OH MY GOD"
Now the employee is quite confused, standing there with mustard in one hand, and sub in the other, staring in horror at these two women.
the male employee hurries over, takes the sub, takes all the lettuce off (where all the obviously offensive mustard lay) and put fresh lettuce, and honey mustard on it. This placates the women and they continue on like nothing ever happened, leaving me and the poor female employee sort of shocked.

SO! question time. Is it just me? Were the customers in the wrong? I understand a language/accent barrier, but from my point of view, the employee made several attempts to confirm that she meant "only mustard" and the tone of the customer when saying her bit wasn't a negative, 'no, this" sort of tone.

[persephone]

I think the customer was sucky cause the employee was trying. The customer should have realized after the first time that the employee couldn't understand and the answer would have been very simply. "No -- the other one," said while pointing at the honey mustard. Everyone would have been happy!

Some people just have to make everyone else's life horrible!

[Balgram]

Yeeeeeeaah...no. The customer was in the wrong here, but only for "blowing up."

Dear World,

When you have an accent compared to where you are currently (read: anywhere except your hometown), you are the problem when it comes to language barriers. You are not better than other people with different accents.

With love,

Me.

When two people with accents try to communicate in an area that uses a different accent, like what is happening here, then both parties are causing a language barrier.

You have an accent. You can still understand locals and they can understand you. Fine. You can't necessarily understand another accent because that would require understanding the local language perfectly, understanding the third language to a degree, and seeing where the overlaps potentially lay*. Also fine, but you need to understand that it's a problem and work around it.

The Pakistani woman was mostly in the right, trying to confirm that it was "only mustard." She could have done better, I guess, by pointing to the mustard and changing words, saying "This mustard only, yes?" or "Just mustard, right?" but perhaps she was nervous. That's fine.

The black woman could have done worlds better by putting what she wanted in different words or using her hands to communicate. "No, not mustard, I want honey mustard," or "No, not that one, this one." It's not the end of the bloody world if someone doesn't understand your thick accent immediately.

Customer, you sucked.

*It's like speaking to a Southerner when you learned English from England. Not gonna happen.

EDIT: Not trying to threadjack, but I just remembered the reason I was gonna post. Funny story: I had two co-workers. One was Korean, the other was Mexican. They both spoke English. They both had thick accents. I had no problem understanding them, but they could not understand each other at all. In the end one would speak, I would repeat, and the other would understand ME.

The three of us became curiously good friends, and I had a very annoying habit for a while.

Susie: "How are you?"
Balgram: "How are you?"
Yue "Good, thanks."
Balgram "Good, thanks."
Susie "...Balgram, why are you repeating everything?"
"Huh? Oh, shoot. Sorry, I thought you were Katrina."
Yue "...I didn't mind..."
Balgram "Well, yeah. You're used to it."
Yue"Yeah, I guess."
Susie "...you guys are weird."

[Chromatix]

Old Farmer: <totally incomprehensible mumble>
Angel: What did he say?
Slightly Younger Constable: <incomprehensible mumble>
Angel: What did he say?
Butterman: <speaks in an ordinary West Country accent>

-- Hot Fuzz

[PepperElf]

"NO NO NO ONEEE MUSTARD ONEEEE ONEEEE CAN'T YOU HEAR?!"

Irony... Bitching at someone for not speaking "proper English" while using even worse English.

To the customer I say... Please learn how to pronounce the letter H. Better yet, I condemn you to watch "Pygmalion" or "My Fair Lady" daily until this concept sinks into your head.

Then and only then may you be allowed to be a bitch about other people's English skills.

All together now.....
In Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire, Hurricanes hardly happen.

[malmalthekiller]

Old Farmer: <totally incomprehensible mumble>
Angel: What did he say?
Slightly Younger Constable: <incomprehensible mumble>
Angel: What did he say?
Butterman: <speaks in an ordinary West Country accent>

-- Hot Fuzz

"
<3.

No, the customer was definitely sucky, again, because the employee was trying, without being forceful, to understand what the customer was saying.

I repeat customers and ask questions a lot when people are sending money or getting money orders, because I want to make sure it's right. I probably sound like an idiot, but I'd rather get the person's name spelled right, or their number amount correct.

poor employee.

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

I think she wanted onion mustard.

[crazylegs]

-- Hot Fuzz

Betcha didn't know there *is* an advanced cycle training course...

[PepperElf]

no i think she wanted "moose turd!"
and yes they DO sell them in Alaska (usually glazed over tho, and as gag-gifts)

[bunnyboy]

If I had heard this I could have helped, I seem to be able to understand most dialects/accents, dunno why but damn if I wouldn't have said, "I think she wants Honey Mustard (Though it took me seeing the only part to get that it was sounding like Oni, not a long drawn out one.) Damn my phoneto-dialecto-lexiphilia.

As a side note, I do seem to be able to not understand certain dialects, and some aren't over the phone. *grumbles* need to brush up on those.

[PepperElf]

everything, including the chilli peppers, except for the green peppers

bad on teh subway then. whenever i go there and ask for "all the veggies" they clarify if i want the hot ones too. (yes yum!)

[dalesys]

Utah Phillips recorded a folk song/story about Mooseturd pie from when he was gandy dancing for the Pacific Railroad.
...
Y'see, they just find out who complains the loudest about the cooking, and he gets to be the cook.
...

...
So I tipped that prairie pastry on its side, got my sh*t together, so to speak
...

[Imogene]

I've apparently got an atrocious accent or speak too quickly for Texans... For times in the past few months, I've run into problems when ordering food...
"No, I wanted the cheesy tots instead of the fries..."
'Then say you want to substitute...'
You're the first person to not understand when I say that...

"Okay, so you ordered a Big Mac..."
"What part of a Number TWO with two more cheeseburgers sounds like a Big Mac to you?" *said to friend who is currently off screen eying the Hotel for Dogs display of toys, and yes, he's in his twenties)

"Do you have the Princess Peach toy?"
"Yes..." *digs through a kid's meal and pulls out a Chain Chomp* "This one?"
*blink, blink, confused* "Is that the only one you have currently?"
"Yes."
"No, thanks, that's not what I was looking for."

Two weeks later, I return, and ask a kid just barely out of his teens if they have the Wii toys.
"Yes, a couple different ones..."
"Do you have Princess Peach?"
"Yes." *he goes off screen momentarily, and digs in the drive through window area, returning triumphant*
Hurray! Someone who knows what I was talking about.

[bainsidhe]

I encounter the language barrier sometimes when I cashier. Fortunately, most customers are pretty easy-going about it. The worst is when I actually have to hand them a slip of paper to spell out what they need. Pointing only does so much, after all

[PepperElf]

i get that too sometimes...
i don't know why but whenever i ask for a "salad" they hear "sandwich"

i end up having to say "SAL --- ID"