Spanglish Doesn't Equal Spanish

Matt speaks Spanglish. Unfortunately, it's not quite the same as Spanish...

Yesterday at work, he tried to help a Spanish speaking couple apply for a Sears credit card. He felt like he was doing an alright job at communicating with them. There had only been a few hiccups along the way, and he was beginning to think that his new name should be 'Mateo.' That is, until he approached the last question on the application process.

Not sure how to say it in Spanish, Matt did his best to inform the couple that they needed to type in the key pad, an estimation of how much money they earn annually.

The wife simply looked at Matt in puzzlement. "Yo no se?" she said, as she looked at her husband in bewilderment.

Feeling that it was a fairly straight-forward question, Matt repeated the request. Again, the couple looked confused, and the husband looked at Matt like he was nuts. Feeling exasperated, Matt again asked them to type how much money they make annually. He emphasized the words 'dinero' and 'todo año,' feeling a bit like a raving monkey.

The couple looked at each other once more, and the wife shook her head. Sighing, Matt smiled politely. 'Un momento por favor,' he said as he scampered off to find someone to translate.

Upon finding his co-worker, Jesus, returning from lunch, Matt waved him over. "Thank goodness Jesus! I'm in a blunder and I need you to translate for me."

"Well I need to get back to Electonics, there are some customers waiting for-"

"That can wait," Matt said as he cut Jesus off. He then grabbed Jesus by the arm and led him to the couple. "OK, so I just need you to tell them that they need to type in an estimate of how much money they make a year, so that I can finish running them for credit."

Jesus shook Matt off his arm and greeted the couple. He began to speak with them in Spanish, and a moment later, the couple busted up laughing, Jesus joining them.

"What is so funny?" Matt crooned, feeling left out. "I like a good laugh too you know."

Trying to keep a straight face, Jesus turned to him. "So um, apparently you told them to write down how much money they spend on food every year. They were really confused and didn't know why you would need to know something like that..."

Feeling sheepish, Matt turned to the couple . "Ay ya ya! Que un blunder! lo siento! Yo soy un dumb-bat sometimes."

Everyone had a good case of the giggles, and Matt was relieved when the whole process was over and done with.

And this is why Spanglish doesn't equal Spanish.