Lost in Translation (Part II)

See Part I here.

Now, in addition to the aforementioned difficulty with accents, particularly on the telephone, FAB also has a probably totally unrelated aversion to the telephone in general. Our main goal when speaking on the phone is getting off the phone as quickly as possible without compromising the successful exchange of vital information. The desire to get off the phone ASAP increases even more when we cannot actually understand many of the words. In the few phone conversations we had with this very sweet boy we mostly just said "uhuh," "yeah," "ok," "that's awesome!" and "sounds great!" in rapidly cycling succession or in keeping with the cadence of the conversation. On this particular eve before the very sweet boy's arrival, the conversation followed the expected pattern, with the boy uttering what we assume to be actual words and FAB contributing some agreeable noises. When I sensed that the conversation was, in fact, nearly over, I closed with the standard, "Uhoh. Ok. Goodbye!" and hung up, smiling at how very sweet that English boy was.

The next day, when we finally met up with the very sweet boy, something was amiss. There was an awkwardness that had not been there before. I chalked it up to the week's separation and assumed everything would work itself out. That night, we met up with two of FAB's very closest friends in a downtown bar. As the night wore on, FAB was pleased to see that the very sweet boy was engaged in deep conversation with one of the very closest friends, heads leaned in all conspirational-like. When the very sweet boy saw me approaching the table, he excused himself and went to the bathroom. I gave my friend an inquisitive look, dying to know what they were talking about. (I'm nosy! Plus, he was a boy I was having a fling with!)

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"I dunno," she said. "He said he told you he loved you on the phone last night and all you said was 'Uhuh. Ok. Goodbye.' and then hung up on him."

Oops.