May 16 - Language Lessons

Today Geoff noticed a line worker at the plant wearing a JACKET! Mind you, it’s not air conditioned in there… but it is “climate controlled”. Geoff tries out his Thai and asks if she’s cold.

Response: Snickers, confused looks, laughing, etc… Then after Geoff points out her jacket she shakes her head to convey “no”.

Later, Geoff asks Jack how to say “Are you cold?” Jack says it in Thai and Geoff’s thinking, “That’s what I said.” But after repeating it back to Jack, Jack clarifies that with the tone that Geoff used… he was asking, “Are you lonely?”

A couple of trips ago Geoff had a similar experience. He asked a line worker, “Are you finished?” Later, others told Geoff that he used the words incorrectly and was asking her if she was “finished” in the –bedroom- sense.