Contrasting Conversations
On the train down from Seoul yesterday:
Conversation 1
“You are in my seat.”
“This is my assigned seat.”
“No. I have a ticket. This is my seat.”
“I have a ticket for this seat. Here. Car 16 seat 15C. See?”
“Oh? [raising voice and drawing attention from other passengers] I don’t know where you got yours, but I just got mine from the ticket window.”
“I reserved mine a long time ago.”
“Well, you will have to move because this is my seat.”
“I’m not going anywhere because I am in the right seat.”
“Well.. what are you going to do?”
“Let me see your ticket.” [inspeting ticket] “You are on the wrong train.
“No I’m not.”
Yes you are. Look. Your ticket says 3:30. This is the 3:00 train.”
[becoming visibly angry] “No. I bought a ticket for the 3:00 train.”
“It doesn’t matter what you thought you did. You have a ticket for the 3:30 train. Look. Right there. See? It says 3:30pm. See the tv monitor? That says this is the 3:00 train to Pusan. You are on the wrong train. The train is leaving in about 2 minutes, so you should get off now before it’s too late.”
“Oh. I’m so angry.” [Stomps off of train]
Conversation 2
[Young military guy in uniform approaches and says, in English] “Excuse me, sir. May I get through.”
“Sure” [stand up so he can get to the inside seat]
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
15 minutes later
“Excuse me, sir.”
“Yes?”
[points apologetically at his Burger King bag] “Do you mind if I eat my lunch?”
“No. Not at all. Please do!”
“I have two hamburgers, sir. Do you want one?”
[Rather surprised and flattered] “Oh. No thank you. I just ate while waiting for the train. But thank you very much.”
“Are you sure? You may have one.”
“No No… Thank you very much. But I couldn’t. Please. You eat them.”