It was Friday night—our family’s “Pizza Night.” Usually, it’s either Pizza Hut, or better yet, Papa Vincent’s homemade pizza.
We all wanted something besides pizza, and no one wanted to cook.
Along with our kids, we finally decided on one of the all-time American fast-food favorites, “KFC”—”Kentucky Fried Chicken.” Vincent and I decided to go through the drive-thru.
I love drive-thrus. There’s no reason to get out of the car. We were too tired and too lazy for that. If you are going to eat fast-food, make it easy.
The Black Box
Vincent was behind the wheel that night, which meant that he would be the one with the honors of placing our food order with the “invisible person behind the black box.” Seems simple enough . . . except when you are in a small American town and you have a French accent.
“Hello, may I take your order,” the lady’s voice boomed through the drive-thru speaker.
“We will take a 12-piece chicken tender bucket,” Vincent said.
“Could you repeat that, please?” she asked.
I understood Vincent perfectly, so why couldn’t the invisible woman behind the black box?
After several attempts at ordering the “12-piece chicken tender bucket, potato wedges, and macaroni and cheese,” the American fast-food employee gave up.
What?!
“Sir, could you please drive forward to the window to place your order?”
“What?!” “Can she not understand me?” Vincent exclaimed with frustration.
“I can understand you just fine,” I replied, trying to reassure my husband. “These people just aren’t used to foreign accents. There is a language barrier.”
Through a mixture of laughter and impatience, Vincent yelled out the window, “I want to go somewhere where people can understand my accent!”
Upon arriving at the drive-thru window, the woman apologized for not being able to understand Vincent through the speaker. Vincent, in turn, apologized for his French accent.
Did he really need to apologize for his foreign accent?
Bi-Lingual Devices?
Exiting the parking lot, Vincent and I laughed together about the incident. We reassured each other that we would soon be leaving mono-cultural, mono-lingual rural Pennsylvania and heading back to the international world of Europe. In Europe, there are so many different accents represented, you just get used to them!
The same “language barrier at the drive-thru” phenomenon takes place when Vincent tries to communicate with Amazon’s “Alexa” device, Xfinity’s nifty “voice control” function on the TV remote control, or the famous “Siri” on Apple devices.
The other day, Vincent pushed the voice control button on our remote and asked for “The World of Dancing,” one of Pierre’s favorite shows. I cannot recall what appeared on the TV screen, but it was NOT “The World of Dancing.” Vincent tried multiple times and then called me over for help. He needed my American accent.
These mono-lingual devices do not understand foreign accents! There is a language barrier.
Check out this hilarious video of a “voice-recognition elevator” experience. Notice the multiple language barriers—accents, vocabulary, etc.
—The Cultural Story-Weaver
Let’s Weave Cultures!
Stay tuned for a “Let’s Weave Cultures” question on Wednesday.
I can understand Vincent perfectly. I couldn’t say eleven any better than the two guys on the elevator . I would love to try Vincent’s pizza, maybe next time.
Isnt’t that video hilarious!? Yes, Vincent makes excellent pizza . . . even though he is French, not Italian! 🙂
One time, I tried switching my phone’s Siri settings to French so that I could practice my French while giving my phone commands. Every time I tried, French Siri had no idea what I was saying. I eventually gave up. Apparently, my accent is too American 🙂
That’s so funny! I guess Siri needs to travel a bit more, expand her global tapestry, and get some broader exposure to foreign accents! 🙂