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The Little Quirks Of the English Language: Part II

 



By the summer of 1992, Christina and I were full steam ahead; we were all in and we were like peas and carrots!  

Due to its proximity to Simon Fraser University, Burnaby Mountain Park was our favorite spot. Christina had an old green sleeping bag in her car that she used to take to picnics with her dog Sam. This sleeping bag turned into a picnic blanket was very convenient and we put it to good use, especially at lunchtime when we lay down after meals and had the sweetest, most tender conversations of our lives. In that blanket I learned a lot about Christina, her deep thoughts, and her heroes; it was our magic carpet.

Since I spent almost every night with Christina, I didn't have time to cook and prepare my own meals for my dinners and lunches the next day. So I bought my lunches and persuaded Christina to come with me wherever the wind took us. This could be on campus or at any neighborhood restaurant. The food didn't matter much; it was her company that fed me.

One day...

"Christina; can you go for lunch now?  I can wait if you are not ready."

"No, this is a good time.  Did you bring your lunch?"

"Not today; did not feel like preparing mash and ground beef again."  Sometimes I would prepare instant mashed potatoes and would cook ground beef with garlic and onion and that's it; lunch. It was terrible, but it was food.

"Let's go for a sandwich.  Have you been to the sandwich bar at the pub?"

"No"

"Good, let's go.  Oh, grab the blanket... it is there on the chair"

In those days the SFU student society was running the pub, and its cafeteria, where they had a sandwich bar.  I have to say that that sandwich bar was probably the best food on campus at that time.  The bar always had a big queue. 

Those sandwich bars are like an industrial conveyer belt, with little time to think.  When my turn arrived to face the attendant the preparation of my lunch started with a series of questions and answers.

"What kind of bread?"

"Hero please"  - I just saw a guy asking for that kind of bun which was pretty big and a glutton goes for big.

"Mustard?"

"It's ok."

"Mayo?

"What is Mayo, ah; mayonnaise!" and my answer was "It's ok"

"Onions?"

"It's ok."

"Pickles?"

"It's ok."

"What kind of meat?"

"Ham please."

"Cheese?"

"It's ok."

"Chips?"

"Make it lots please"

"To go, or for here?"

"To go please."

"Anything to drink?"

"No, thanks."

The attendant wrapped my lunch and pass it to the cashier.

"$7.50 please."

"I'm also paying for your lunch" - pointing to Christina. To that, the cashier looked at the assembly line worker and the person responded with $4.50. Cashing-caching left a tip, and Christina and I ran to the park with our blanket and our lunches.

At the park we always set the green blanket on the edge of the shadow of a tree; we wanted to have options.  We took position next to each other, unwrapped our lunches to get ready to eat and:

"What is this!" - I was in shock at the sight of my lunch.

"What's wrong, Jose?" - she asked in a worried voice, and leaning down to look at my sandwich she asked - "Wrong order?"

"No, my sandwich!  Look at it!  Only ham and bread!  What is this!"  - pointing at the internals of my skimpy sandwich.

"You didn't want anything on it; I was there."

"What?  I said it was OK to put all the things they asked for!  Cheese? It is OK; put it on!  No, instead I get this!"

"Right, it's OK means NO in some circumstances, and in that case, it meant NO.  Next time say that you want everything on it or say 'Yes, please'; problem solved."

"Gush; I just paid $7.50 plus tip for a hunk of bread and a few slices of ham!  I did not even bring water!"

"I can share with you, here..."

Christina shared with me all the condiments of her food and my sandwich became edible.  She always made things better for me, and that day was not an exception.  She dedicated the rest of her life to me and our family. 


Thank you, my love.  I will never be able to thank you enough for your devotion.  You should have been the one writing our stories, not me.  Your control of the language was excellent, you were a paladin.  The little I know today I learned from you.

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