One of my goals this year has been to consistently, appropriately respond when an English person asks me a basic question. Not just any basic question...a very common one over here.
Now in the states when someone walks up to you they may ask, "How are you?" To which you would reply with, "fine", "good", "I'm doing well", or "Well, so far today, I woke up and stubbed my toe, spilled my milk from my cereal bowl, didn't get all of the conditioner washed out of my hair (which is why it looks so greasy right now...it's not because I don't wash my hair), burned my ear on my straightener, and burned dinner." Maybe not the last response, but you catch my drift.
Over here they don't ask you, "How are you?" Instead it goes a little like this:
"Yaalright?"
Now say it fast...now add an accent.
So for about a year I never answered this question appropriately. Not once. My answers varied throughout those months. Conversations went a little like this:
Man Fixing My Dryer: Yaalright?
Me: Uuuuuuhahhhh.
I'm not kidding. Sound it out. It's what I did. I felt dumb.
Person at Church: Yaalright?
Me:Fine.
Yea, that made A LOT of sense. I promise I do speak in complete sentences on occasion.
Neighbor: Yaalright?
Me: Complete blank stare. *thinking* What have they heard about me?!? Are there rumors going around? Do I look sick? Do I look like I'm not alright?!?
So because I was tired of feeling like a complete imbecile every time someone tried to be nice and ask if I was alright, I made it a goal to really start listening and answer appropriately.
I might or might not have practiced to myself at home.
I would like to report that when someone asks me, "Yaalright?" I can now respond with a very intellectual response of "Yes, and you?" quite consistently.
Brilliant.
It only took me 14 months to master. It's a good thing we live in a country that at least kind of speaks a language I understand. I'd be in a world of trouble if we were in Japan. Think of all the insults I could be hurling at people and not even know it.
I'll take heavy accents, weird words, and strange syntax. Thank you very much!
