Jun 19 2006
soccer coaches
each weekend a team of instructors for US soccer camps stay at Hotel US suburb. The instructors are British, some Scottish, mostly from Northern England and under 20yrs. World Cup 2006 soccer plays on the Hotel Lobby’s big screen. I had the luxury of a shouted critical commentary in multiple British accents. Hooray!
I chatted with the team leader about his job. He commented on how difficult it was in the evenings because, unlike at home, the younger coaches cannot drink beer here in the US. He mentioned they had found a few places that do not check ID cards. He also suggested that there are few team sports readily open to girls in the USA. Soccer is often their only realistic option. As you guys know, the USA womens soccer team is a world class heavyweight winning the 2004 Olympics and only recently (2003) loosing their world cup holder status to germany in the semi-finals.
My rental car requires me to press the ‘lock’ button 2x before it actualy locks the doors. Intuitive? Uh, not to me. Can you see the problem here? This morning soccer coach #1, who couldn’t remember what his hire-car looked like, opened the door to my car which, though unlocked, was alarmed. Hearing the alarm I dashed out to find the boy scratching his head while inspecting my number plate.
Wendy ‘I think that’s my car’ (some hesitancy because maybe I parked it somewhere else and there’s another blue Chevvy Colbalt in the parking lot)
soccer coach #2: “I said black, not blue, car” in a thick Northern English accent that made it clear how difficult it was to understand his words.
soccer coach #1 and I exchanged profuse apologies1 and giggled as he found his car and I locked mine. I wondered how difficult it must be for the regional US children on soccer camp to understand the instructions these guys call-out in thier unfamilair British regional accents. I’d love to spend a day at the camp, to see and hear what it is like, but I have to leave this morning…..
- When dealing with unfamiliar US people through work I strive to avoid my inclination to apologise liberally because I believe my work culture leans towards interpretting this as obsequious, a sign of weakness. This belief stems from the way apologies are accepted with minimal signs of largesse, for example, humour. In social situations I risk following my tendency to apologise and look for the generosity of the person by their reaction.
write the first thought on soccer coaches
