Hamish: sincere condolences on this run-in with a specimen of the “jerk” genus…
May I ask an irrelevant question? What did you say wrong in French that offended a Francophone customer? I’m just curious.
(I live and work in southern California, where Mexican Spanish is the most prevalent second language, but when I try to say something in Spanish, and mess it up, it usually only brings laughter, not anger.)
Trinopus (mi espanol es pocito…y mal)
Bosda, I spoke with my assistant manager about it. He’ll be talking to my manager. I’m not too worried because when it’s come to crazy customers, she has always taken my side. She works the counter sometimes, so she knows what these people can be like. We’ve worked together for two years, now and she trusts me.
Jodi, the supervisor is the supervisor of several stores – the manager runs one. Our supervisor is our liason at head office, and comes around to inspect things.
As for why I’d care – I know I shouldn’t, but that knowledge doesn’t help. I’m a thin-skinned, sensitive person in general, and this issue is the hardest for me. Growing up, I saw a lot of violence, and that’s the reason for my rather strict pacifist stance. It’s a very emotional issue for me. Consequently, I have a very hard time discussing this issue rationally even under ideal circumstances.
Trinopus, my mistake was not knowing that the word “bavardeuse” had negative connotations. French is my second language, and while I’m fairly fluent, many of the nuances escape me.
This woman left her lottery ticket at the store, and I had to write a note describing her because I didn’t know her name and she might have come back on someone else’s shift. She’s very chatty, in a friendly way – pleasant, conversational, but it’s hard to get a word in edgewise. “Bavardeuse” means “chatty,” but also “gossipy” and “full of hot air.” Problem was, I only knew the first meaning. My dictionary suggests “loquace.”