Jenny Garth, the first Jimmy experience

I had been with my company for less than 3 months. For some reason I have found that in my career field, there are cliques that run along languistic lines - Chinese speakers tend to congregate among themselves, Arabic speakers, and so on. So for me, a Serbo-Croatian translator, it was difficult to fit in because I am the only one of my kind in the company. The Russians 'adopted' me once they discovered how similar our languages were (and the humor of the situation was certainly not lost on me). So because of this, it was a bit intimidating trying to 'break in' to all these various cliques. But because ODJ's cubicle is literally across from mine, we ended up talking to each other more than I talked to any one 'clique'. My first Jimmyism was at this time.

I was still in the process of getting comfortable at my new position at work, and I just brought in a coffee mug so that I could drink tea. This is something I have picked up from work, as literally EVERYONE drinks tea rather than coffee. But I decided that I wanted a mug that was not bland or boring. Anyway, in the middle of the day, ODJ called me over.

ODJ: Ah, who that girl?
Me: What girl?
ODJ: That girl on your coffee mug?
Me: Oh, that's Garth.
ODJ: Uh, the Jennies Garth?
Me: Hmm, no, that's Garth from Wayne's World.
ODJ: Ohhh.

I did not explain to him that Garth was a man, nor has he ever heard of Wayne's World. But he accepted my explanation without question.

Welcome to the show.

I wasn't planning on starting a blog, but my good friend Katherine decided she was going to write a blog for one of her college classes. I now believe an alien entity has possessed her brain, which compels her to not only write her blog, but to convince others to write their own as well. After a few weeks of toying with the idea, I decided to bite the bullet. But I don't want to blog about myself. No no, that would be far too terrifying.


Instead, dear readers, please consider this a lighthearted attempt to bridge the gaps inherent to communication when the participants in a conversation do not speak the same language as their native tongue. This blog in particular is specifically dedicated to one of my co-workers, who shall from this point on be known as Old Deaf Jimmy, or ODJ (In the interest of protecting his identity, this may or may not be his real name). So if this blog is specifically dedicated to ODJ, then I suppose describing him is the next step.

ODJ is a 75 year old Chinese immigrant who has been working as a translator with the same company for 35 years. He isn't particularly overweight, but he does have heart problems. I met him just after he had quadruple bypass surgery. He is the nicest guy in the world with good intentions, but he is literally IMPOSSIBLE to understand sometimes.

One reason for this is his thick Chinese accent. I suppose some people call it "Engrish".
The other reason is that he is also mostly deaf, as far as I can tell. It's very sad because it causes difficulty for his line of work, but he doesn't let it get to him.

When combined, the two qualities make for amazing moments in comedy. I have affectionately started calling them "Jimmyisms". They are sometimes innocent, definitely misguided, but always fun.

I have been getting many Jimmyisms lately because my cubicle is directly across from his. He comes over when I arrive at work to discuss the most random things ever. I would one day like to film him just to be able to show you how bad his English really is, because the results are hilarious.

I have been working with ODJ for 6 months now and I already have several stories to share. All in good time though. I will update this blog with all the good Jimmyisms I get.

Eventually.