The gist of it
August 17, 2007After going to the cinema yesterday evening in Amsterdam (The Simpsons, great stuff), my friends and I wanted to make a quick dash into MacDonalds. Here’s a transcript of me trying to order one cheeseburger.
Me: “Één cheeseburger graag.”
Guy: “EUR 3.40.”
That’s expensive, I thought. Weird. The guy behind the counter runs around for a bit, then comes running back, and shoves two cheeseburgers under my face. That explains the price.
Me: “Ééntje maar, hoor…”
I stick up my index finger to indicate the amount of cheeseburgers I want. The guy runs around again, and comes back with… Another cheeseburger. I’m now looking at three cheeseburgers.
Me: “Ik hoef er maar één, hoor. ÉÉN.”
Again, I point my index finger sky ceilingwards. How hard can it be?
The coin finally dropped, probably, as he got the manager to open the register for him, so I could get my money back. I had a long line of people waiting behind me in the queue.
Seriously, I don’t give a rat’s ass about immigrants (Indian, in this case, I believe) wanting to work here. Really. Come here, do the jobs we Dutch feel too good for (that’s the gist of it, really). But please, pretty please, is it really that impossible to at least be able to COUNT in Dutch, seeing you work in a “RESTAURANT” in THE NETHERLANDS, where they speak DUTCH?
Een, twee, drie, vier, vijf, zes, zeven, acht, negen, tien, elf, twaalf, dertien, veertien… Or, if you run into an American, tweeënvijftig.
Although, Dutch is one of the hardest languages to speak (unless you are Dutch of course) imo.
Not that its a good excuse for an immigrant not to speak the language of the country he’s trying to work in - but I bet Dutch is tough for him to learn.
If I were to try my luck at working in The Netherlands, I reckon I’d fail to pick up the local lingo anytime soon - but you guy’s are so good at English, would I have too?
Comment by Rob Foster — August 17, 2007 @ 8:49 pm
The thing is, when I’m a customer in my own country, I simply REFUSE to speak any other language but Dutch. It’s a matter of principle. I’m on my own goddamn soil, so I expect the people I pay to serve me to properly speak Dutch, immigrant or not.
Comment by Administrator — August 17, 2007 @ 9:23 pm