Today I experienced first hand the American-English language barrier that you really think wouldn’t - shouldn’t - exist, but does. I haven’t really figured it out, but it seems it doesn’t just happen to me as other English people on this side of the pond invariably experience it at some point or another.

Usually you can just muddle through, sometimes if you pronounce what it is you’re trying to say a little more slowly or with a bit of effort the person you’re speaking to catches on and the conversation continues, hopefully with the outcome you were looking for.

Sometimes though, like today, confusion just arises and you’re left feeling stupid. All I wanted to do was buy stamps from a gas station (er, petrol station). The key word here is ’stamps’. Could this woman fathom what I meant? Not a chance. “Do you sell stamps?”. Is there any ambiguity in that sentence? I didn’t think so, but she looked at me as if I was speaking a totally alien language. I tried again, and then of course I made the fatal mistake of attempting to explain what a stamp is for - “You know, stamps, to put on my letters so I can get them posted?”. Total ‘buffer overflow’ - she just shook her head and looked at me like I was crazy. Fortunately some bloke who was next in line said to her “I think he’s after stamps”, to which she replied “We don’t sell them!”. I just paid for my Gatorade and left muttering “thanks anyway”.

I think the problem is that people tend to listen to the accent and not the actual words that are being spoken. They recognise these words, but as they’re being said a little differently they just don’t seem to sink in or register. I’m also of the opinion that routine in such a mundane job causes peoples brains to shut down, and if anything happens during the day which deviates from the standard set of routines that they usually experience then instead of applying some small amount of common sense they basically just shut down and back away from the situation.

Eventually I purchased the stamps from a liquor store and sent the letters on their way. Don’t get too excited though - it wasn’t anything from me personally (such as postcards or whatever), just bills and stuff I promised my housemate I’d mail for him.