Excuse me. Excuse me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Excuse me. Excuse me. I'm sorry.
That would be about half a conversation I heard this morning on my way to work. Two people were riding their bikes on perpendicular streets and they came to the same street corner. Neither saw the other, and both slowed down their biking as they approached the corner. There was plenty of room for them to pass without crashing.
It was not clear who had the right of way, nor were there any ill consequences - no crash, no harsh words. No one was made late (even by *gasp* one minute!!!) to their respective destinations. However, a lengthy apology was apparently in order. By both parties (which, in turn, in all probablity made at least one of them one minute late...).
The Japanese words I most frequently hear are sumimasen (excuse me) and gomenisai (I'm sorry). They are said with greater frequency than curse words at a Chris Rock concert. The ever-humble and apologetic nature of the Japanese is quite odd for me, having spent my entire life in and around the cities of New York, Baltimore and Washington, DC.
A Japanese coworker of mine - Tomoe - has had some trouble with her bike lately. She got a flat the other day, and had trouble fitting the pump to the tire, so I helped her out. But there is clearly a slow leak in the tire tube itself, as it went flat again today. I offered to help her out, if she got a patch kit from the local store. She did, and I went to help her out after work this evening. However, her bike is older and it will take some time to take disassemble and then reassemble the back wheel in order to remove the tire to search for the leak and apply the patch. I told her that since I'm not coming into the office until noon on Thursday, I could come in a little earlier that morning and work on it then, with both the proper tools and sunlight helping me out. She immediately said...
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"Because you have to come and fix it."
"First off, I don't have to. Secondly, I offered."
"Yea, but you're going to come in early."
"I will arrive at work at 11. I don't mind. And, I offered."
"Right. I'm sorry."
At this point, I'm not sure if she was restating the initial apology or offering a new one because she apologized. Nothing like an apology for an apology. I figured questioning this would had left to further confusion, so I let it go.
I know I haven't posted in a while. So, please excuse me.
I'm sorry.
Excuse me.
I'M SORRY!!!!
Excuse me.
It was not clear who had the right of way, nor were there any ill consequences - no crash, no harsh words. No one was made late (even by *gasp* one minute!!!) to their respective destinations. However, a lengthy apology was apparently in order. By both parties (which, in turn, in all probablity made at least one of them one minute late...).
The Japanese words I most frequently hear are sumimasen (excuse me) and gomenisai (I'm sorry). They are said with greater frequency than curse words at a Chris Rock concert. The ever-humble and apologetic nature of the Japanese is quite odd for me, having spent my entire life in and around the cities of New York, Baltimore and Washington, DC.
A Japanese coworker of mine - Tomoe - has had some trouble with her bike lately. She got a flat the other day, and had trouble fitting the pump to the tire, so I helped her out. But there is clearly a slow leak in the tire tube itself, as it went flat again today. I offered to help her out, if she got a patch kit from the local store. She did, and I went to help her out after work this evening. However, her bike is older and it will take some time to take disassemble and then reassemble the back wheel in order to remove the tire to search for the leak and apply the patch. I told her that since I'm not coming into the office until noon on Thursday, I could come in a little earlier that morning and work on it then, with both the proper tools and sunlight helping me out. She immediately said...
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"Because you have to come and fix it."
"First off, I don't have to. Secondly, I offered."
"Yea, but you're going to come in early."
"I will arrive at work at 11. I don't mind. And, I offered."
"Right. I'm sorry."
At this point, I'm not sure if she was restating the initial apology or offering a new one because she apologized. Nothing like an apology for an apology. I figured questioning this would had left to further confusion, so I let it go.
I know I haven't posted in a while. So, please excuse me.
I'm sorry.
Excuse me.
I'M SORRY!!!!
Excuse me.
posted by David at 1:07 PM
2 Comments:
that's right you should be sorry biatch!!! that's actually one of the first thing i learned in my jap class, alot of the sentences started off with excuse me or i'm sorry
anyway, silly firefox2 just underlined 'biatch' and the spelling suggestions it gives me are 'bitch' or 'batch' lol
i like this apologizing thing. you should practice on your sister.
i also like these anonymous comments. guess who?
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