Kilograms become pounds,
gms becomes ounce,
Litres become gallons,
220V becomes 110V,
Switching on becomes switching off,
Left driving becomes right,
Ground floor becomes first floor,
and lots and lots more….
That’s when you realize that you are in the land of topsy-turvy , the land that has stubbornly sworn to baffle the minds of confused people like me. Oh yeah! you got me right folks! I am indeed talking about the United states of America. Although I have been in the US before, each time I come back, every time my head spins in volleys. It does take at least 2-3 weeks for me to get adjusted here. My chaotic and befuddled mind has to remember so many things, be responsible for so many things and get accustomed to the enormous changes without any friends/family around.
It has almost become customary that wherever I go, I always do something weird or funny and end up getting myself embarrassed. I am now just so used to getting embarrassed, I should say.. . Common guys! Don’t laugh at me. Have mercy! That’s how I am made!!. Every time these things seem to happen, an inner voice yells from inside..”Welcome lady…you are in America! ”. I have been here for a week and a half and I have almost heard atleast 100 “welcome lady…” voices now…….lol…:D.
When I landed in the US and reached my hotel, the front desk person , a petite Mexican lady, greeted me warmly and ushered me to the left alley of the hotel and told me in her adorable Spanish-splotched english that I was to occupy the first room on the left in the first floor. I thanked her politely, lunged my heavy luggage cart forward and walked along valiantly. Since, even after walking the entire alley, I couldn’t find an elevator, I turned around and walked back the way and gave the lady a bemused look . She gave me an equally bemused look. Right at that moment, a ‘welcome lady..” voice banged from inside. “oh god!!” I then realized I was already in the first floor(ground floor of our world ). What should I do now?? …well give her a self-conscious smile and get going as though nothing had happened. Hahah :D. ...
It has almost become customary that wherever I go, I always do something weird or funny and end up getting myself embarrassed. I am now just so used to getting embarrassed, I should say.. . Common guys! Don’t laugh at me. Have mercy! That’s how I am made!!. Every time these things seem to happen, an inner voice yells from inside..”Welcome lady…you are in America! ”. I have been here for a week and a half and I have almost heard atleast 100 “welcome lady…” voices now…….lol…:D.
When I landed in the US and reached my hotel, the front desk person , a petite Mexican lady, greeted me warmly and ushered me to the left alley of the hotel and told me in her adorable Spanish-splotched english that I was to occupy the first room on the left in the first floor. I thanked her politely, lunged my heavy luggage cart forward and walked along valiantly. Since, even after walking the entire alley, I couldn’t find an elevator, I turned around and walked back the way and gave the lady a bemused look . She gave me an equally bemused look. Right at that moment, a ‘welcome lady..” voice banged from inside. “oh god!!” I then realized I was already in the first floor(ground floor of our world ). What should I do now?? …well give her a self-conscious smile and get going as though nothing had happened. Hahah :D. ...
Ok...Lets come to the next one.This time I had to re-activate my bank account , coz my previous one had been closed due to inactivity for a long time.I reached the bank by 4:05 PM but unfortunately , the note in the entrance read
“Working Hours – Lobby : 9:00 A.M to 4:00 P.M (4:00 P.M? man!! I wish I worked in a bank in a US)
Drive thru : 9:00 A.M to 5:00 P.M
Obviously,I had to take the drive thru option but then what the hell was it?? (though the name ‘drive thru’ did give some insight, I really dint know what to expect of it). Maintaining a confident exterior, (as usual :D) I asked my cabbie to proceed to the ‘drive thru’. Two bank employees sat inside the bank and faced the customers behind a glass counter. They spoke in a mike so that people outside could hear. We parked at about 50 m away but there seemed to be no mike for me to speak. ‘oh god! Please save me..” , I prayed fervently and went ahead with my query (hoping that these guys would hear me..). In a moment came the reply but then she was asking me for my debit card in order to re-activate it. “but, man!!..There was no opening in the counter “ and more so, we were 50 m away. I was back in square one. My cabbie came to the rescue this time."god bless him.” He picked up a container that was nearby , put my debit card in it , placed it in a stand. As soon as he placed it, “whoosh…….!” It flew away like a rocket and” bang!” , the girl inside got my debit card. She examined it and asked me to come back again when their lobby was open. By this time my inner voice came back again. This time the volume seemed so deafening..lol :D
“So much for a Drive thru!” I muttered to myself and came back home. When I closed my eyes to sleep that night, the voice came back.This time it said, “Good night..sleep tight”. My My…I was relieved and dozed off, lest I encounter something else.
“Working Hours – Lobby : 9:00 A.M to 4:00 P.M (4:00 P.M? man!! I wish I worked in a bank in a US)
Drive thru : 9:00 A.M to 5:00 P.M
Obviously,I had to take the drive thru option but then what the hell was it?? (though the name ‘drive thru’ did give some insight, I really dint know what to expect of it). Maintaining a confident exterior, (as usual :D) I asked my cabbie to proceed to the ‘drive thru’. Two bank employees sat inside the bank and faced the customers behind a glass counter. They spoke in a mike so that people outside could hear. We parked at about 50 m away but there seemed to be no mike for me to speak. ‘oh god! Please save me..” , I prayed fervently and went ahead with my query (hoping that these guys would hear me..). In a moment came the reply but then she was asking me for my debit card in order to re-activate it. “but, man!!..There was no opening in the counter “ and more so, we were 50 m away. I was back in square one. My cabbie came to the rescue this time."god bless him.” He picked up a container that was nearby , put my debit card in it , placed it in a stand. As soon as he placed it, “whoosh…….!” It flew away like a rocket and” bang!” , the girl inside got my debit card. She examined it and asked me to come back again when their lobby was open. By this time my inner voice came back again. This time the volume seemed so deafening..lol :D
“So much for a Drive thru!” I muttered to myself and came back home. When I closed my eyes to sleep that night, the voice came back.This time it said, “Good night..sleep tight”. My My…I was relieved and dozed off, lest I encounter something else.
P:S : The mexican lady I was talking about looked like a college kid but she said she was 24.she had a 3 year old kid and was never married before!…wow…..well… "Welcome to America indeed "
1 comment:
Ha ha ha :) Welcome to US!!!
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