Losing Words

I must admit I am tuning out, or perhaps my ears have stopped working!

What do I mean? Well, I am struggling to hear every word spoken to me. I just can't do it. I especially notice this when I am talking with my British friends who speak with enough of an accent, very quickly, and who use a lot of the vernacular. At church I often find myself in a situation where the congregation is laughing at the pastor's joke, and I have completely missed it. British English IS a second language! And I am just learning it. . . .

I have thought my smile and nod (hopefully given at the right time) would suffice in those awkward moments when I have missed half a sentence (and can't quite say, "Excuse me, could you repeat that?"), and for the most part I think they do.

In fact, I am getting used to not hearing everything. It is actually beneficial sometimes at home, when everyone is talking at once!

Jim and I went out to dinner last night with friends to a nice little pub they knew of. After dinner, Jim excused himself and asked me to order him a "something double expresso" When I ordered, I racked my brain for what that something word was, but I just couldn't think what it must have been so I ordered what I had actually heard, "a double expresso please~"

I then excused myself, and upon returning to the table, Jim had already been served his coffee and was almost finished.

"It was decaf, right?" he asked.

Oh dear!