If you've visited here before, you know that I work with a veritable United Nations at the restaurant. Every year new students arrive from just about any country that allows them to visit the US. This year is no different, though the level of proficient English speakers is a bit lower than past years. Still, these young'uns are ready to work hard and get to know more English, and in the process get to know their co-workers. In fact, it's been a whirlwind of 20 questions this week as many began their work schedules and training.
It's always a joy for me to meet these new folks and get to know them. They are amazed that I attempt to learn to pronounce their names properly, just as in their own countries. It's something very important to me. They're in a strange country (in more ways than one) and many employers "Americanize" their names. I won't do that, though the locosguys sometimes start out doing that, they eventually follow my lead and attempt to wrap their American tongues around the original version.
Example: Miruslav is a newbie from Ukraine and has been working with us for 2 weeks. The Americanization of his name became "Marcel" and don't ask, I have no idea why. On his first day I asked what he was called at home (since many from these countries have at least 2 nicknames) and he smiled and said, "Miru" so I've called him Miru (Mee-Roo) from the get-go. This weekend, the locosguys finally got the memo and are now calling him Miru, as well. He noticed the change and gave me a wink and big smile when he first heard his proper name for the first time.
All Russian & Ukrainian staff past and present call me Waynechik. It's a name of endearment and I treasure its use. I am still in touch with some of them via Face Book and they always use that name when writing to me.
Now this weekend two new servers arrived. One from Mexico, the other from Guatemala. They are Carlos and Jorge-Solomon (he prefers Solomon so that's what he's called) and as usual, I was peppered with questions about everything - both job-related and personal - which was quite challenging. Why? They asked if I had a wife and kids, grand-kids etc. Calmly and quietly I said no, and that I was a gay man. Without missing a beat, they asked if I had a "partner" or "lover" ... now this threw me off for a few seconds until I realized these kids "got-it" and they only wanted to know if I was happy.
When I answered that I had been in a relationship for 30 years, they looked sad and said they were sorry (assuming that my partner had passed away) and that threw me, too. When I corrected their assumption and explained the break-up, they became wide-eyed and almost angry. At least that's the impression they left with me. It took the better part of an hour after our shift to explain what all that meant. They are now very protective of me.
Perhaps they think of me as a sort of father or grandfather figure. It's hard to tell since I don't know their cultures and customs regarding older people. I call them kids here, never to their face. They are all over 21 and good students or they wouldn't be allowed to come here for the summer.
If you're wondering why there are so few American students on our schedule it's because most American young'uns have no work ethic and in the past 5 years I've worked at the restaurant, almost every American hired was a disaster. If it was a good beach day, they almost always called in "well" and left the rest of the staff (and me) in the lurch. I think word has gotten out; this year not one American student applied for work.
I am hungry and in need of an adult beverage, so bye!
And so it goes.
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My stars! They've begun to arrive - already.
