Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Strewshens

Early yesterday morning there was a knock at the door. I wasn't expecting anyone, and was still in bed. The kids opened the door before I could tell them to wait for me, and I heard a male voice ask for their mom. I rolled out of bed and got dressed in one swift move and headed downstairs, still wondering who it could be. I remembered halfway down the stairs that this was the day our vinyl fence posts were going to be installed. I went to the door (still half asleep) and saw three workers. One served as spokesman, and here's how the conversation went:

(Polite greeting by both of us)

Worker: Do you have any strewshens?
Me: What was that?
Worker: Do you have any strewshens?
Me: Can you repeat that?
Worker: Do you have strewshens for the fence?

At this point they were all looking at me like I was up in the night; which, in their defense, I have been up in the night...a LOT...with sick kids, and I'm very tired. My brain doesn't function at 100%, so I was still thinking it was more of a me problem rather than a language barrier. I didn't know how to ask him to repeat it a fourth time without being offensive, so I decided to repeat it back to him to make sure I was hearing him properly.

Me: Strewshens?
Worker: Yes
(uh-oh. I heard him right. I had no idea where to go from here)
Me: I don't know what strewshens are.
Worker: We take down old fence?
Me: No. You can just put the vinyl fence in front of the other fence. The other fence will be taken down by UTA.
Worker: (Smiling) Thank you.

I guessed he had what he needed because they walked away. I shut the door and started laughing. It wasn't until I took a minute to spell it out in my mind (strutions) that I realized he was asking if I had INSTRUCTIONS.

The fence posts were installed correctly and beautifully. I guess I did have strewshens after all.

10 comments:

Scott and Svetlana said...

LOL, I red this "strewshens" word like 9 times and couldn't figure out what is it all about until I red your post till the end. That is awesome!
Congrats with new fence!

Beth said...

I love it! I really had no clue...awesome!

Jodi said...

I would have no clue what he was saying either. Oh, you make me laugh!

Maleen said...

That was a great story. I'm glad you figured it out, it would have bugged me all day.

buhlersdayoff said...

Hilarious!! I love it! I guess it wouldn't have mattered how much sleep you would have gotten. You can tell that you were a school teacher if you could figure that one out. GOOD JOB!!

Carrie said...

Your amazing! I still did'nt get it till the end. lol A vinyl fence huh? Woo hoo so nice! Congrats!

Unknown said...

That is so funny. I never would have interpreted that one.

Laura said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you for making me laugh my head off! I could just picture the whole scene in my mind and I couldn't stop laughing. It is comforting to know that I'm not the only one who can't understand "strewshens."

Natalie said...

Too funny! Love those moments when you just have to smile and nod and pretend to know what they are saying. Until you realize they are asking you a question and need a better answer!

Anonymous said...

aww... giggle sorry u have been up with sickies...