So effing rude!

[Celia]

Sick of government plebs who complain they can't understand my accent. Talking about the Registro Civil today...

No my accent's not great on the phone, fine, but I could tell the girl switched off as soon as she answered the phone and heard an "extranjero" - ugh how they hate extranjeros, I could tell she was holding the phone away from her ear in distaste.....they don't listen, don't try to understand....
today the girl laughed very rudely and said, well you'd better come down here because I can't understand a word you're saying! Of course when I asked why can't you understand a word of what I'm saying? she managed to laugh again and answer, so she understood that much!!!
They just hate foreigners and I'm sick of it....

In my country, we make an effort and if we don't, we get the sack....

 

[Johnny]

I understand your frustration and I have experienced the same situation. However, it is important to note that even the slightest change in the pronunciation of a vowel, word, or failure to accent (even slightly) the correct syllable can lead to confusion. As an example, when I lived in Miami I was often unable to understand a word or phrase spoken to me by a native spanish speaker. They might repeat the word or phrase and voila, I understood them perfectly. It wasn't as if their initial pronunciation was so off the mark, it was only the very slightest difference.

Clearly the problem is worse if you are speaking on the phone. Not to say that there can't be rude folks around, but often it's just the minute imperfections. In addition, some folks are better at figuring out what your saying through the context of the conversation than others. And, there is no substitute for excellent abstract reasoning skills.

Hope this helps !

 

[Celia]

Yeah, I'm just tired of people who put down the phone or refuse to help because they refuse to make the effort to understand. I've lived here 4 and a half years and given birth twice here, had 3 operations in hospitals, and done thousands of tramites. I can speak well enough if the person is willing to suspend their dislike of foreigners..... a great many people are helpful here, but there are an equal number who make life a complete misery, a lot of them seem to be in government jobs...

 

[cabrera]

Sick of government plebs who complain they can't understand my accent. Talking about the Registro Civil today...

No my accent's not great on the phone, fine, but I could tell the girl switched off as soon as she answered the phone and heard an "extranjero" - ugh how they hate extranjeros, I could tell she was holding the phone away from her ear in distaste.....they don't listen, don't try to understand....
today the girl laughed very rudely and said, well you'd better come down here because I can't understand a word you're saying! Of course when I asked why can't you understand a word of what I'm saying? she managed to laugh again and answer, so she understood that much!!!
They just hate foreigners and I'm sick of it....

In my country, we make an effort and if we don't, we get the sack....

Why do you not leave and go to your beautiful England !!!!!. You are a typical whinging englishwoman who will never be tolerated by us!!!!!!!

 

[Celia]

Thanks Cabrera, now everyone can see what & who I'm talking about!!! Even though I have 2 argentinian sons, some people here will never accept me because they hate foreigners. and these people's parents or grandparents were long-suffering foreigners like me, so wtf!!!!!

 

[Celia]

By the way, Cabrera, what country are your forbears from? Are they Spanish, Italian or maybe English like me??

 

[ptolemy]

Why do you not leave and go to your beautiful England !!!!!. You are a typical whinging englishwoman who will never be tolerated by us!!!!!!!

Dearest Cabrera,..I'm the other half of this picture and you're damned right! We ARE trying to LEAVE this “beautiful country,” but we've been sentenced to another 40 DAYs because we refuse to name our child Che, Nestor, Anibal, etc. AND we REFUSE to have our child held as a political and cultural hostage to this country!!!!!!!
And you,.. are typical of a whinging, arrogant, xenophobic Argentine who should never be tolerated by ANYONE!!!!!!!

 

[Guillo]

I'm not justifying rude people or crappy public employees (or Cabrera for that matter), but before you start talking about "Typical Argentine Xenophobe", take a good look into your home countries and how they treat immigrants.

 

[jp]

The trick is to hang up and call back. Its a bit of a lottery with call service people, some are brilliant and go out of their way to help you. Others bitterly resent you for making them pick up a phone. Frustrating system, but just keep calling back til you find a human being.

 

[Johnny]

Didn't take long for this thread to deteriorate ! Dios mio !