Living at "Fawlty Towers"

My recent experiences with maid service (both at our condo in Mexico and now here at the hotel we're living at while our Victoria condo flood damage is fixed) remind me of the hilarious John Cleese (of Monty Python fame) British comedy series "Fawlty Towers."

One of the Fawlty Towers staff members was a waiter/manservant named "Manuel" who was from Spain and didn't speak English. The mix-ups stemming from the language barrier and associated misunderstandings were a scream. I think they only made 12 episodes of the show, but it's classic British comedy and available on DVD if you've never seen it and need some belly laughs.

Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), the inn's propietor, was constantly frustrated by Manuel's lack of understanding including his head cocked sideways in confusion and perpetual answer of "Que?" (means "What?" in Spanish). Many screwball events unfold with Basil always apologizing to the inn's guests explaining "Don't mind him, he's from Barcelona."

The sweet lady who provides the weekly housekeeping services at the Mexican six-plex where we have a unit doesn't speak a word of English. When I need her to do (or not do) something, I have to rely on my pathetic "Spanglish" and pantomime - neither of which work in the least to bridge the communication gap. I see the "Manuel" confusion cross her face and can just hear her thinking "Que?" as I try to communicate a request.

I've given up trying, at John's urging, as he found it so stressful watching me simply confuse this poor woman. And all I was trying to do was tell her she didn't have to wash the dirty dishes in the sink, that I would do it myself. She smiles, nods and says "Si", then fills the sink with hot soapy water and starts washing!

Today, at the hotel suite in Canada where we're camping while the flood damage is repaired, I had deja vu when the Asian housekeeping lady came to clean the suite. Apparently she doesn't speak any English either, as I told her (and motioned!) not to wash the dirty lunch dishes in the sink as I would do it myself. She smiled, nodded, said "Yes", and then proceeded to fill the sink and wash the dishes! I looked at John and he just shook his head at me, silently begging me to just shut up and let her do her job her own way.

I will lay low on any requests of the housekeeping staff at this hotel because we've heard them speaking in Japanese and Chinese (which could mean Mandarin or Cantonese, or both). We are so ill-equipped to deal with this United Nations of domestic help in our lives! I can't make myself understood in Spanish, even when I've gotten out my dictionary and really tried. There's no way I can wade into Japanese and possibly two Chinese languages.

While I was typing this post, the front desk here called up and asked if we had water running in our suite. I said no, and asked what was up. Apparently there is water dripping into the suite beneath us! This is so parallel to what happened at our condo and landed us here at "Fawlty Towers"! I call it that because of the language barrier, the fact their wireless internet only works intermittently, and I can't really say they "clean" the place all that well (I've spotted and killed some silverfish).

We're moving to a new hotel on May 1st for the next couple of months and I'm really hoping they speak my lingo. Fingers crossed.

Todo bien. (It's all good).