When In Rome...Learn the Lingo

When I logged in to blog today, I got quite a shock -- remember that post from a few days ago when I was questioning whether or not I was being rude (or whether someone else was being rude to me) ??

You can read that post here: Rudeness? I Can't Be Sure.

Well -- check this out.

I was logging in today to tell you about our most recent adventures at hte WA (Western Australia) Food & Wine Festival, and I had a very pointed comment on a previous post, awaiting my attention.

It was from Ron, the man who let the Perth tour we took (sans salad dressing). At first glance, I thought he was being snippy about what I had written about my encounter with him.

But in fact, this is what happened.

I had used a slang term in that post (one that I had heard a number of Aussies use...and one that was in fact translated in an "Aussie Slang Dictionary" that I had purchased while in Sydney) and I had NO IDEA that the word was extremely derogatory (some would go so far as to say racist).

Wow, I really stepped in a pile of you know what with that one.

So Ron, who seemed perfectly OK with what I had written about HIM, was warning me that what I had written about someone else was definitely not cool.

Now, if you go back and read the original post, you won't find it because it's been removed. But what if Ron hadn't said anything? Lord only knows what the Aussies would have thought I was trying to say.

If you're reading this now, and you DID in fact read that original post (and you're still subscribed to my newsletter, meaning you haven't run away screaming) then please know that I sincerely apologize.

Sometimes it takes multiple incidents to truly learn a lesson --

I nearly stepped in it again -- one of our tour guides was talking about "putting lead in your pencil" and when I asked him what that meant, he looked at me as though I was from Mars. Because he couldn't really explain it (apparently, it was just a self-explanatory common sense kind of expression to him), I was left thinking it was another way of saying "sexually aroused."

I asked someone else what they thought it meant, and they said it was definitely NOT what I thought, but they couldn't really explain it either.

(I felt a bit like I was trying to ask someone to explain the meaning of the word "THE" to me.)

Sooooooo, since I still have NO IDEA what that expression means, you can bet I won't be using it any time soon.

And if it is in fact a comment that is obscene or racist, well, then please post a comment here so I can frickin' remove it, OK? You should know by now that I may push the envelope now and then, but it's only to wake you up, never to be cruel or insult you.

In summary, the moral of this story is:

When in Rome (or Australia), learn the language before you use it.

You'll save yourself (and other people) a heap of hurt and embarrassment. OK? OK.

QoD: How willing are you to admit when you make a mistake? Are you more likely to pawn it off with something like "I didn't know" or "it wasn't my fault" rather than to take responsibility adn made amends?

When you take responsibility, the situation resolves and completes. When you avoid responsibility, you wind up carrying that burden around for a long time...until you are willing to take it and make it right adn let it go.

Go for it!