Archive for March, 2009
What the Dickens?
A pounding came on the door… boom boom boom! I went to see who could be here. After all, living in the country does not warrant many unexpected guests.
I opened the door to reveal a young man dressed in tight black garb standing in the newly fallen snow. A tight knit cap was on his head & a chimney sweep over his shoulder.
He addressed me as “saimnieks” (said like “SIME-nee-eks”) in Latvian, which means boss, landlord, master, governor, sahib or “the man”. Who’s the saimnieks? I’m the saimnieks. Yo.
He inquired about the condition of our chimney system & whether or not it is in good working order. When I answered “yeah” instead of “Jā” (said like “Yaah”), he proceeded with his spiel in broken, but understandable English. I was encouraged to know that “they” had “all license”, but, of course since I have no money & my chimneys were cleaned in November, I was disinclined to accept his offer.
If it weren’t for the dark, older model Mercedes parked next to my little Mazda, this could have been a scene from a Dickens novel.
Ahh, life in rural Latvia. Classic.
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