I went to the Petro Canada gas station around the corner, and I used their handy portable debit machine so I didn't have to get out of the car. This may sound lazy, but in Canada during winter, its' a life-saver. So the friendly Arabic guy finishes pumping my gas and he brings the debit unit over. He takes my debit card and then asks me a question. It sounded something like this.
"Japedropoyka?"
I tried to get it. I really did. But I failed.
"I'm sorry, I missed that", I said.
He slowed it down for me and said it louder.
"Jaa... ped... ro...poy...kaaaa?"
I blinked. I was lost.
"I'm sorry, I can't understand you." I said.
He shook his head sadly.
"DO... JOO... HAA... PETRO... POY... KAAA???"
"Oh! Do I have a Petro Points Card?"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"No?"
"Yes."
Silence.
"I don't have a Petro Points card."
He nodded, swiped my debit card and I was on my way.
So another time my parents had to run some errands and just for fun, they decided to take Frodo with them. Frodo is our dog, a white English Bull Terrier, very friendly. They pulled into the very same Arab-run Petro Canada station. One of the friendly guys looked in and saw Frodo and gasped. You have to understand, the first time you see a Bull Terrier in real life is a bit of a shock. They are VERY odd looking and powerful dogs.
"What is that?!?", he shrieked.
My parents introduced him to Frodo, who way very happy to make a new friend. The guy eyed the car warily the whole time he pumped the gas and he never took his eyes off Frodo while dad paid. Frodo stood in the backseat, looked out the window and wagged his tail fiercely. As they went to pull away, the attendant cautiously approached the back window, waved at Frodo and said, "Goodbye Frodee!"
Frodo's new nickname was born.
So last night, my grandfather tried to get Frodo to come to him with a biscuit. My grandfather has never been to the Petro Canada and I'm sure no one told him the story. But sure enough, when my grandfather called Frodo he said, "Come Frodee!"
I guess it's just meant to be. Let's go for a walk Frodee.
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2 comments:
Loved the story about "Frodee". Your parental units must have told you of the various words that have come into our vocabulary due to mispronunciations or mixing of words. For instance: Dindle (dinner & ?); Butterball (your father's take on calling someone a turkey); English taco (your father again for Yorkshire pudding).
Now - why are you called Orgull?
"Now - why are you called Orgull?"
In grade 7, I was asked to join a roleplaying game and I'd never played one before so a classsmate named Aaron Carruthers made up a character for me. He said "Your name is Orgull, you're a Cleric" and I've used the name ever since when playing games.
One day I decided to Google it and discovered it's from the Spanish word for pride, "orgullo". Neat!
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