|
In Which Colline Becomes A Stereotype of Herself, and Also Talks About Sanitation in Ethiopia..., I have had a Most Educational Evening. Baby Zara is next-door (I am once more living at my grandparents' house), which means that her mother is, too. Her mother? Works. For the UN. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My grandparents managed to secure me a meeting, which meant that I sat in the living room for one hour talking to Clary (that is her name) about the UN, how to get a job there, and the State of the World, during which I tried to appear somewhat vaguely intelligent. Mostly I coughed a lot. Frankly, it's the best I could have hoped for.
She works for UNICEF, specifically in the Water & Sanitation sector; she was a civil engineer and worked for the World Bank for a while, and just started working fo UNICEF a year ago. I learned that the worldwide status of water quality and availability is improving, and that the MDG on water is likely one of the only ones that is going to be acheived (both a good thing and a bad thing), but worldwide sanitation is most definitely not, especially in - you guessed it! - sub-Saharan Africa. She also gave me a few good book recommendations (and you know I love me a good book recommendation or two), was very pleasant and engaged, and suffered my coughing well. She also swore - twice. Thus she is my hero. As a plus, her daughter is officially THE most precious, gorgeous, cute young child on the face of the earth. And I work in a toy store. I see the runners-up three times a week.
I'm so excited :) I'm very glad - she told me about the World Bank's Young Professionals program, and even though I harbour extreme suspicions and prejudices about the Bretton Woods institutions, I am willing to give it a shot. You guys, this is what I want to DO, this is who I want to BE. XD
----------------
This morning I read a stupendous article by Stephen Marche about the Toronto zoo, and about zoos in general, and about the different ways adults and children react to zoos. It is very poignant, well-written, and sad :( I love zoos. I love animals. But nonetheless, it makes me sad.
"For adults, the zoo is a haunted house of future ghosts. It's the dreamlike remains of our destruction of nature. Adults know the cruelty on which our wonder and enjoyment are based. I find it hard to look at caged tigers; my son does not. The fact that they're probably safer from humans behind bars than they would be in the wild only makes their display more depressing, not less. The gorillas: I can't stand to look at them at all. They just seem far too human, with their sad, bored, broken eyes, picking through each other's hair, lounging in each other's embraces, with nothing to bother them and nothing to hope for."
--------------
So: sometimes, at work, when I am bored (or even when I am not), I put on an accent. I pretend to be Belgian, or Irish, or what-have-you. It's never enough of an accent to be outright obvious, but it's there. I leave it on to answer the phone, greet customers, and offer suggestions. I usually have to cut it out when the boss phones, or when a familiar customer comes through the door. One time, I answered the phone and the person on the other end was Irish. I was petrified she would see me for the faker I was. One time, a lady asked me if my parents owned Sweet Cremes (a local ice cream store run by British folk). I said no.
Today, I was Irish again. Very slight, nothing much, but I said something, and one young lady immediately whipped her head around and pinned me with her gaze. I was frozen. Deer in the headlights. Not. Even. Breathing. "Are you Irish!??!?!" she asked. I nearly wet myself. I could have carried on. I could have. I know how to say 'Dublin' with a perfect Dublinese accent, after all. And what's more, she would have believed me: after all, I have red hair now. That's basically a passport, stamped and signed. However, I have an honest heart, and so I blurted that no, I was faking, I found it fun, ohpleasedon'ttellmyboss. She immediately piped up with, "Oh, it's OK, I do that too - all the time! The other week, I was in New York, and for no particular reason, I pretended I was Italian."
Needless to say, I knocked it off, but I was pleased. I am not the only one! Does anyone else play jokes like this at work? Does anyone else use accents? Frankly, if it weren't for my sisters and their omniprescent eyerolls, I would be Scottish all the time. Well, Scottish or Australian.
Current Mood:  hopeful
Current Music: See the World - Gomez
|
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
thirsty
crazy
jubilant
hungry
distressed
confused
enthralled
grateful
amused