it's an annual event for everyone working at the hospital to gather in whatever now remains of the perimeter of green picnic grounds around the buildings... the canteen and other volunteer staff busied themselves grilling hot dogs, burgers, corn, heating up baked beans, offering you drinks on a recycled tray, and making sure you have a slice of watermelon and an ice-cream.
people at the lab usually head down there together... and a few weeks ago before an unwelcomed storm blew into my life, i joined some of them for the 2nd time since my arrival to the mid-west. we are a bunch of rather international individuals; from the Mediterranean, Middle East, South America, South East Asia, former USSR, good old Europe, as well as the local Minnesota... and quite naturally, conversations are coloured not just by the differing accents but also by the peppering of funny or, more often than not, inappropriate use of phrases...
i was happily attacking my corn-on-the-cob and trying not to drip the butter everywhere, when EL who was sitting on the other side of the bench, tossed up the question:
"Hmm... what should I do with my new license plate when I don't have a mount for it at the front of my car?"
"You should just screw it!" AA offered.
this lead to some some silence and by the time looked up, i found my other colleague NM grinning to himself and as our eyes met, he grinned even more and I couldn't help but burst out giggling.
EM took the opportunity (as usual) to give me a hard time by recommending: " [overacuppa], shame on you! I suggest that you take your brain out of the gutter!!", with a smile... but it's too late to stop and I was laughing harder than I could help to defend myself.
the only consolation was that others were also laughing...
"What's so funny??" interjected AA, who was clearly oblivious to what he's done.
"well... you should have said 'screw it on' or timed it better between the words... because what you said is inappropriate... " explained EM.
there was a brief moment of more laughter and then the conversation digressed to what linguistic phrasing is accepted and not in most cultures... and i finally got to finish up my corn without too much oily mishaps!
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