Quick Quizz

Jul 26, 2008 at 12:38 PM
39 comments

`
Yesterday afternoon I asked my taxi driver where he was from and he replied that if I guessed I could have a free ride.

I was not willing to make wild guesses based on appearance and an accent because this is fraught with the possibility of seriously offending someone. So, we decided I could ask two questions to help me with one guess at the answer.

The questions could not include asking for cities in the country or for names of bordering countries.

So....... my two questions:

Does your country play cricket? No

What languages do you speak? French, Arabic, English, and some Spanish.

I guessed the answer!! It starts with M ....

What two questions would you have asked?

(I did not get a free ride but he took a couple of dollars off!).

39 comments

Tags:

quizz,
taxi ride.

Comments

I wouldn't have been able to think up such excellent questions! I do like trying to place people's accents, though probably should be more sensitive to the possibility of offending them with my guesses.

Moroccan? LOL what was it? I've got no idea what I'd have asked but I think your questions are great!

[this is good]

I was thinking Morocco too! Are we right?

haha! That's funny :) Congrats on the right answer!!

Clever! Yes Morocco was correct. It was the Spanish which led me to think that.

Thank you. I think that if you ask a Pakistani if he is Indian (and vice versa) they can be quite offended. I get asked all the time if I am English and it doesn't offend me but I tell them if they asked if I was a New Zealander it would be another story! (though I am actually joking!). LOL.

You are right.... when I was in Barcelona there were a lot of Moroccans there and when he said Spanish it sort of jogged that memory.

Thank you - though it would have been nice to get the free ride prize!! LOL. He is the first driver I have come across who didn't really want to say where he was originally from.

Now that’s a tuff one, every question I could think of would break the rules! It is always a hard one to do because for every stereotype of a person from a country there is always that person who breaks the rules. Not a game I would want to play especially with cretin nationalities, a few would absolutely be offended if you called them a different nationality!

This cab ride sounds like it has been much more fun then driving yourself, you’re gaining many new and interesting stories from all the interesting people you are getting to meet. But that is always the way with an injured damsel in distress!

[this is good]

Ha ha..I guessed it with the M, but couldn't have done it without the hint.

You're having fun with these cab rides..awesome!

I'm Indian, and have been called Philippino, Chinese, Latin American, Indian American, West Indian, everything but Pakistani! lol

I guessed it from the fact that he spoke French and Arabic. I didn't know Moroccans spoke Spanish. I bet an American wouldn't have though of asking if he was from a country that plays cricket!

It was the combination of Spanish and Muslim that led me there.

You're Indian and someone throught you were Chinese? That is quite something!

There is a good chunk of the Indian population that lives in the North East mountain region whose ancestors came from South East Asia/Burma. I think that's where some resemblance comes in. I don't really look Chinese (or Indian American, for that matter), but that's people for you. :)

You are so right that this is much more interesting than if I had got a rental car. I wonder where I will "travel" this week...

LOL. Yes, I'm trying to make the most of this experience. Only a couple of drivers have stepped out to help me with my crutches though - I think I will have to work on looking a little more pathetic! :-) I really would rather take the straight out approach of asking someone where they are from rather than guessing. Americans (sorry) rarely get "Australian" right - they just assume that I am English and a lot of the time I don't bother correcting them. Although one time I did, the person responded "oh I should have guessed, you talk like Nicole Kidman". Sometimes I will tell people that I am the English who were sent down (though that can result in a history lesson!).

you talk like Nicole Kidman..lol. How is that for a compliment!

History lessons in a cab..sounds like a story, there.

The world maybe becoming smaller, but we are still little islands. People on the phone either think I'm British or get completely confused about my accent. lol

LOL - yes I doubt the cricket question would occur to an American. Although most of the people I work with have heard of cricket they don't have much idea of the game. Morocco has a water border with Spain and land borders with two small Spanish autonomous cities, Ceuta & Melilla. I don't think all Moroccans speak Spanish - they are taught French in school according to my driver.

LOL - you must be speaking the "Queen's English" on the phone. I had someone ask me if I was from Boston because of the way I said "park" !

Yeah..I'm getting better, though. The hardest one was learning to say 'hallway' instead of 'corridor'. And addressing people by their first name instead of Mr. and Ms. So n So.

I have only changed two things - my pronunciation of schedule (which was shed-ule) and replacing zed with zee. Everything else I refuse to change - though I do spell the American way at work.

[this is good]

Excellent and what fun!

[this is good]

Brava!!! that was a great ride and you were very clever.....I've never ridden in a taxi, so I can't even imagine the situation very well....

Could you have asked who the leader of the country was? I probably would have tried that...but I mightn't have known the answer anyway!

Emjay replied to LondonYankee’s comment:
Jul 27, 2008
Reply

Thank you. Gotta make fun of this for 5 more weeks! :-)

Emjay replied to Robbbiedobbbie’s comment:
Jul 27, 2008
Reply

Never been in a taxi?? How have you managed that?
LOL your question - I'm pretty sure I would embarrass myself over leaders of the world!

Robbbiedobbbie replied to Emjay’s comment:
Jul 27, 2008
Reply

I don't think we have them around here. If we do, I've never seen them. And I've always REALLY HATED being in cities, so I don't do that. We're more of a car place..... no car, no move. There's a bus, sometimes. but not close to where I live. And here's the funny thing: I'm close to a big city -- it's just a pocket of country, surrounded by sprawl.

Wow! I'm amazed that you have got to our age and not been in one somewhere, sometime. It's not a bad thing - just rare I imagine.

LondonYankee replied to Emjay’s comment:
Jul 27, 2008
Reply

I can commiserate - I broke my foot several years ago by falling off my shoe (that was the year clogs were back in - sigh) and I was non weight bearing for EIGHT weeks. not even on my tippie toe! doc said I was up for surgery if I cheated at all - I did learn to fall on my butt effectively tho! Hang in there!!!!! and wrap the tops of the crutches with nice soft towels!

Chellbian replied to LondonYankee’s comment:
Jul 28, 2008
Reply

That's how I broke my foot a couple of years ago. They were BEAUTIFUL shoes though in my defence!! :D

Bubble wrap helps Emjay. Gives your hands some padding and hours of fun for all! You might want to wrap some around the seat of your trousers too...might save your bum from too many bruises lol :D

Emjay replied to LondonYankee’s comment:
Jul 28, 2008
Reply

the taxi driver this morning was telling me that he has a regular pick up of a woman who snapped some tendons falling out of her shoes. He said that the dr told her she can never wear heels again - once she gets the foot fixed. I am really hoping to avoid surgery but it has proven to be difficult keeping off it totally. :-(

LOL! The beautiful shoes!! What women endure to wear gorgeous shoes! I tore my tendon because I was wearing a pair of boots that were giving me a blister so I turned my foot inside the boot and walked about a mile at a weird angle. The blister didn't get any worse though !!! :-) thanks for the suggestion of bubble wrap - I might try that.

LondonYankee replied to Chellbian’s comment:
Jul 28, 2008
Reply

I LOVE the bubble wrap idea!
I wear heels now with no problem so crossing fingers that you will be all healed up soon just fine!

LondonYankee replied to Emjay’s comment:
Jul 28, 2008
Reply

ah but sometimes Jimmy Choo is worth it - eeeeeek - NOT... :) I just had a fat foot for a long time - it was about a year before I could wear my regular shoes but now it is fine - guess and anne klein and all!

Emjay replied to LondonYankee’s comment:
Jul 28, 2008
Reply

I have read of women having operations to their toes just so they could wear certain styles of shoes. I think as you (I) get older we (I) realise that comfort is more important ... and there are some really snazzy flat shoes now so that you (I) don't have to look like an old lady! LOL. Actually my one good foot has a different snazzy flat shoe on it everyday at the moment.

LondonYankee replied to Emjay’s comment:
Jul 29, 2008
Reply

I have a good size collection of my favorite shoes but I also am re-building my flip flop collection :)

Emjay replied to LondonYankee’s comment:
Jul 29, 2008
Reply

I have heard reports that thongs (flip flops) can cause leg pain! ..... (I think from gripping with the toes to keep them on).... perhaps we should all go barefoot!!

LondonYankee replied to Emjay’s comment:
Jul 29, 2008
Reply

I like that idea!

oh god, so many comment... haha I wanted to reply to one, but I can't see which specific one it was now, but something about the history lesson?
I can't remember the circumstances but I was talking with some people and we got to saying how it'd be nice to just gather all the people we don't want/need and ship them off to an island... so I was joked 'isn't that what they did with Australia?' hahah No offense meant of course lol

Anyways, I also wanted to say you should have come to Canada! lol You could've kept your zed's and your shed-ules! ;)

also, someone needs to come up with a business plan for a store that sells ONE shoe... lol So that people who break legs or what not can buy a shoe for the foot they're still using and not pay for a full pair! lol

LOL! Quite often I tell people here that the American Revolutionary War led to populating Australia - it surprises quite a few people to know that the British sent their criminals here first.

I think I might start re-introducing shed-ule ... just for fun.

That would be a good idea to sell single shoes. Another lady came into the office today on crutches after breaking some toes! :-)