Lukasz,
I recently called the Czech Rep. on some official business. Reached a (private!!-:)
firm and the youngish-, oh mid-twentyish, sounding operator answered. I tried
basic Polish, since my Czech is downright lousy and she started laughing a bit,
switching then to equally basic English. I asked then in English, if only to be
polite, mind you, whether she understood German. She answered tartly, 'Sir,
English is fine!' I then proceeded slowly, yet not condescendingly to explain
matters. 'Did you understand?', I finally asked, in normal native speaker caden-
ces. 'Please, sir. It's clear. Thank you for your phone call. I tell Mr. Pravicek you
called from New York!' (click - no Good bye!, Na sledanou! - nix, zippo, zilch)
The next morning when my co-worker arrived, he angrily told me that 'Prague
had f_ _ _ _ d it all up!' and 'got the dates wrong too!!' Immediately, I tele-
phoned the Prague office and spoke with someone else, who assured me that it was OUR fault. I responded cooly, 'Ma'am, do you perhaps understand German, since
English didn't seem to work the other day?' 'German was my first second language
all though school.' she replied. So I translated for about ten minutes exactly what
I wanted. Later that day, an e-mail came to my attention, apologizing for the
other person's rude behavior and for the, rather costly, misunderstanding.
The next time, advised friend Pravicek, PLEASE use an interpreter!
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