More of the Mumbles

Remember when I mentioned my Maid Mumbles who garbles everything she says?

Well ironically it turns out some of my younger nurses feel the same way when I speak. To them, I'm quite the incoherent bedlamite myself! What a sad blow to my esteem!

Paul : Callthenextcase.
Junior Nurse : Umm yes?
Paul : Callthenextcase.
Junior Nurse : Could you repeat that?
Paul : Sigh. Callthenextcase.
Junior Nurse : What did he say?
Senior Nurse : The doctor said to call the next case.
Paul : Grr. Wasitthathardtounderstand?
Senior Nurse : Perhaps a few breaths in between the lines?

Miscommunication at work.


What did he say?
In case you're wondering, I wasn't muffled by a mask. The first few times I wondered whether they'd actually heard me right. After I'd made the order - and repeated it multiple times, the junior nurses just stood there agog staring at me. For all the response I got, I might as well have said it in Swahili. Almost felt like resorting to basic hand signals.

Seems the standard Queen's English isn't quite understood here in the tropical island of Borneo - where I presume they speak a native speech derived from Brooke's county of Devon. Or else ( more likely I think ) I actually speak like a livestock auctioneer. The Mouth of the South... much too fast in a lightning speed that the newer nurses find impossible to comprehend.

Though over here they are far more used to a slow-as-molasses lilting speech, the senior nurses here have gotten quite used to my brisk, clipped cadence. They speak my language. So much so that they have taken to acting as self-appointed interpreters for me to the junior staff. Easy enough since my work orders are quite similar.

I know I walk and talk damned fast. But I am slowing down. Seriously. Maybe I should start making little signs to carry at work.