Today I was flagged down by two german girls whose van had broken down.
ANNA: Excuse me, our van have broken down. Could you help, please?
ME: Um, yeah, ya wanna lift into town?
ANNA: No, we call the auto-mechanic on the mobile phone, and he says he will be coming soon.
ME: ... Right. So, do you need something ... ?
ANNA: Ja. You see, our English is not so good. We think we might need someone to, um, translate when the auto-mechanic gets here.
ME: ... You're German, right?
ANNA: Ja.
ME: ... Do you think I speak ... German? ... For some reason?
ANNA: ... Well, no, but you understand what I'm saying, ja?
ME: ... Yeah. Your English sounds fine. I can't see why a mechanic would have trouble understanding you.
Anna shoots Julia a worried look and then turns back to me with pleading eyes.
ANNA: ... um ... okay. I understand if you need to go. ... but ... um ...
ME: Okay, *sigh* {fuckit} I can probably stay until the mechanic gets here.
ANNA: Danke! Danke! Thankyou!
It's probably a good thing I did. They didn't have any water or toilet-paper with them. Something which earned them a proper scolding from Grumpy Aunty Alex™.
So ... the translation thing was obviously bullshit, but the question is, what were they really scared of? That someone would pull up and attack them? That the mechanic was going to be a rapist? Or try to rip them off? Or rob them? Or that he'd demand sex as payment? Or that he wouldn't come at all? Are there stories in Germany about devious roadside mechanics in Australia? Is my brain going to the wrong place after what happened two nights ago? And why not just be honest about whatever they were worried about?
I think I've had my fill of weird strained conversations, for a few days at least. I'm not a great conversationalist, even at the best of times. How's things with you?
3 comments :
They were scared. What kind of road was it? They've seen those fucking movies - Wolf Creek et al - and what the fuck are they doing driving a shitty van that will break down anyway. I reckon that's what it was. They wanted you to stay with them for protection. They didn't want to say why because females are always worried about 'being silly' about things like that; also they didn't want to offend you with suspicions about your country not being safe.
I'm guessing you did stay with them. Which is a good and nice thing to do.
It's funny you're not a good conversationalist, but you in text. Me too, I'm way better like this.
Hope your days calm down a little, you've had a time of it lately haven't you? But I'm loving reading this stuff here. Makes my day.
What kind of road was it?
Quiet. Country.
what the fuck are they doing driving a shitty van that will break down anyway
Post-graduate students on a big outback adventure down under, from what I gathered. I guess they thought they were bullet-proof until something major went wrong.
because females are always worried about 'being silly'
Hmmmm, like how I don't want to talk to any family members about my problems ... Point taken.
I'm guessing you did stay with them.
Yeah. Like I said, the silly things weren't even carrying any water with them. I couldn't very well piss-off after I found that out.
It's funny you're not a good conversationalist, but you in text. I'm loving reading this stuff here. Makes my day.
It makes me smile to hear that. Maybe I should do conversational style posts more regularly.
you've had a time of it lately haven't you?
Isn't it amazing how these things seem to come in bursts? I'm still probably going to have to spend some more time with our Chinese friend before this trip is done. Jesus, maybe asking Clokes isn't such a bad idea. Shit, I'm still all over the place on this.
I didn't in any way mean to suggest you were being silly about not talking to your family members about this stuff. I meant females often don't want to cause a fuss and be silly about things relating to possible sexual assault and violence. We have these gut feelings and get scared, maybe, and don't want to say anything for fear of being told 'we're being silly' when really it's probably legitimate.
I bet they saw Wolf Creek as a preparation for coming to Australia. Stupid fucking girls.
With our Chinese friend, is it possible for you to spend time with him in a public place, ie not in his room, which is kind of weird to start with. Why weren't you in a bar or something, or a cafe? If it's a work thing, there's no neutral space in which to do the work? Sorry, maybe I just don't get what kind of work you do.
Let me know if you want me to ask Clokes, or for him to ask his Chinese friends at work.
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