Is the waitress my sister, my mother, or my grandma? －ウェイトレスは、お姉さんか、お母さんか、お婆ちゃんか？－

“Obaa-chan!”

A British colleague of mine tried to catch the attention of the elderly waitress in an old-fashioned izakaya.  She was probably in her seventies, still working in the family run business past the usual retirement age.  His shout “Obaa-chan” meant “Grandma”.

A Japanese colleague nudged him sharply with her elbow and scolded him.  “Psst!  Don’t say that!  You’re being rude.”  She told him to call the waitress, “Onee-san”, or “sister”.

The poor old waitress heard as my tactless colleague complained, “But she is an Obaa-chan!”

I was reminded of this scene recently.  Bousou-Seito, who is a student of mine, wrote about something similar in her diary.  She has given permission for her diary entry to be printed below.

*

The other day I worked at Cafe Celery.  On that day, three customers from Nara came.  They were very interesting and very friendly.

They called me “Okaa-san”.  But I hate being called that.  If another customer called me “Okaa-san”, I would say, “I am not your mother!”

Then the customer said, “Your t-shirt is very nice.  I want that t-shirt.  Metcha kakko-ee yan!  Let’s swap t-shirts!” 

So his friend said, “Don’t be silly.  It is not a soccer match.  We don’t swap t-shirts.”

Today’s customers were very good.

*

So now we know what not to call a waitress.  And also how to charm a waitress like a young man from Nara.

 

Vocabulary:

a colleague – a co-worker; someone who works for the same company

Grandma – an affectionate sounding, shortened form of “Grandmother”

to nudge someone - to push your elbow into someone to get their attention

tactless – having or showing a lack of sensitivity or skill in dealing with others’ feelings

“Metcha kakko-ee yan!” - Of course Japanese speakers will know that this is Kansai dialect, and means something like, “That is so cool!”