Bad accent contest

Yes, I've been gone awhile. I apologize. But for today's post, I decided it would be worth it to stay late at the office and get this down, especially since it just happened.

But first, some background.

For those of you that don't know, I work for a foreign-based company and over the years, I've worked with people from Germany, Ireland, Spain, India, Luxembourg, England, Scotland, Austria, China and, of course, some US folks. The mix often provides many humorous moments as we all struggle to understand each other's habits, cultures and languages.

Since I've been here the longest, I've taken it upon myself to start a secret 'bad accent' contest. It was inadvertantly initiated by a former colleague who is now back in the home office in Germany. Like many Germans, he cannot hear the difference between the letters 'v' and 'w.' Of course, this can be slightly problematic.

One day several years ago, my coworkers were trying to decide where to go for lunch. My contest-starter asked who wanted to go for "weggie burgers."

Let the game begin!

A few years went by and some co-workers left and others arrived, including one wonderfully lively fellow from Barcelona, Spain. The Spaniard returned from a lengthy vacation looking very tan and relaxed.

I welcomed him back and asked him how his trip was.

"Fan-tastic! I spent three weeks on a bitch."

Whoa! I think there could be an award in it for him.

And that brings us to today...about 15 minutes ago, to be exact.

Another German colleague, this one from a different area of Germany, stopped on his way out of the office for the night and asked me, "Did you order the bed wedder?"

What?

"Did you order the bed wedder?"

I mentally reviewed everything that had been delivered today - interoffice mail, computer equipment, fresh fruit - maybe someone had a bad reaction to the peaches??

"The bed wedder. It really looks like it's going to rain."