It suddenly dawned on me (as if by epiphany) that the Brits who make fun of my English are simply fulfilling the plan of the cosmos, repaying my own insensitivity when I was younger! The realization came to me when I was on a bus this weekend (headed to a train station because the train service was interrupted for engineering works - but that is another story). What goes around comes around!
The roots of some of the locals here being so merciless in their contempt for the way I speak reach far back into my own past. I have always been one that corrected the mistakes of others. (Oft times when it was not necessary or welcome…) The reality of this was brought to mind by the sight of a "DUAL CARRIAGE WAY" sign.
In college I worked for a summer camp in Minnesota. The crew there was fairly international and there was this one guy from the UK who was dead set that he was going to get his driver's license while he was there. I helped him study for his test and let him take the driving test in my car. I cannot remember his name, where exactly he was from in the UK and even whether he got the license or not.The reason this sign made me think of him at all was that I used to get such a kick out of the way he phrased things. The road sign for "Divided Highway Ahead" for instance he insisted meant "Dual carriageway ahead." I guess, in retrospect that I should not have laughed at his phrasing and should have showed more understanding that there are other places English is spoken and perhaps not identically to the way it is spoken in the US.
I now am reaping what I sowed all those years ago. So, let this me a lesson to me; don't try and correct others… unless it is welcome! It's a lesson to me, myself! (If you want to learn from it too, who am I to stop you?)
I hope wherever you are today, you're having a good one!
Don Bergquist - 06 February 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK
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