Friday, September 13, 2013

The Vulgar Tongue

Tonight, I am working a double, I started at 4PM and am working straight through until 8AM so I can go out drinking tomorrow. Yeah, I'm not going to sugarcoat anything, I just need to go out and drink plenty of beer tomorrow. Anyway, this evening, a couple parked a camper van (and not the kind you're thinking of) in our parking lot. My cutoff for strange vehicles in the parking lot is nightfall. You want to park and check out the small picnic area outside our visitors' center, I'm cool with that, and will usually approach and give a spiel about the site. After dark, I'm not so sanguine...

I just pounded on the camper and was answered by a European fellow (he sounded French to me, but I didn't ask him his particulars), who told me that the people in the "office" told me that he could park the camper in the lot. I looked at him and said, "Don't blow smoke up my ass. The "office" staff wouldn't tell you such a thing."

Neither of us being a total dick (though his attempted bluff was kinda dickish), I told the guy where he could park in peace, and he moved the vehicle. It wasn't until after our exchange that I wondered whether he got the gist of "to blow smoke up one's ass". It's funny how easy it is to slip into the vernacular when you are miffed. Sheesh, I wonder if he would understand "miffed"...

6 comments:

Glennis said...

Good story. It sounds like he's used to being rousted, and manages to roll with it.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

He was parallel parked across several parking spots. If he had been there when the Manager on Duty arrives, there would have been a kerfuffle, to say the least.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Tell him you have trained attack cats patrolling the premises, and you're merely looking after his best interests.
~

mikey said...

Music to roust foreigners by.

Smut Clyde said...

I wondered whether he got the gist of "to blow smoke up one's ass"

Sounds it was largely an English tradition.
Fortunately I get the gist of "getting the gist".

Michael S. Olsen said...

Well, as a furriner, I'm miffed about your less than sanguine spiel. Heheheheh