It's good to be back in Athens, which is both home and not a horrible place to live! Feeling at home is not the same thing as being entirely at ease however, and some things will probably never cease to cause us to realise how different by character, culture and temperament we are. They're usually quite trivial, such as the following incident, which I've put down here to illustrate a little of the cultural gap we try and bridge whenever we leave the house (and often in the house too).
On the way back from school with Hannah I popped into the local supermarket (been there way over 100 times) for onions and bread: goods worth €1.40. €5 paid, €3.60 due in change (I didn't get an E in A-level maths for nothing).
Taking the change from the lady, it briefly crossed my mind that it looked a little light, but pocketed it and then took it out again about 5 seconds later to check. I definitely had the €1.40 rather than the €3.60.
I caught up with the rapidly retreating assistant and explained what had happened.
Me: 'Excuse me, I think you've not given me the correct change.'
Shop assistant: '[Slightly irritably] Why did you do that?'
'Ummm...well you've given me the wrong part of the fiver'
'Surely you've made a mistake?'
'Er, no, I've got the 1.40 here.'
'You've probably got the rest in another pocket?'
'[Remaining very calm] No, just this and my keys.'
'Pfff...well I'll have to get the key for the till then won't I...'
'Thanks very much'.
'...'
'OK, bye!'
'...'
Note how in the entire course of this conversation I managed not to say 'sorry' (which non-English readers should know is how we feel whenever someone else is remotely put out on our account, even if we're not at fault...probably because we're aware of how much wrong we've done in the world. Sorry.).
The joke goes that when the verb 'to be at fault' is taught to primary school kids, it goes like this:
Δεν φταίω (It's not my fault)
Φταις (It's your fault)
Φταί (It's his/her fault)
Δεν φταίμε (It's not our fault)
Φταίτε (It's your fault)
Φταίνε (It's their fault)
Repent and believe the good news, Jesus says. Repentance requires the humility to stop saying 'it's your fault' and accept that actually it's very much mine.
On the way back from school with Hannah I popped into the local supermarket (been there way over 100 times) for onions and bread: goods worth €1.40. €5 paid, €3.60 due in change (I didn't get an E in A-level maths for nothing).
Taking the change from the lady, it briefly crossed my mind that it looked a little light, but pocketed it and then took it out again about 5 seconds later to check. I definitely had the €1.40 rather than the €3.60.
I caught up with the rapidly retreating assistant and explained what had happened.
Me: 'Excuse me, I think you've not given me the correct change.'
Shop assistant: '[Slightly irritably] Why did you do that?'
'Ummm...well you've given me the wrong part of the fiver'
'Surely you've made a mistake?'
'Er, no, I've got the 1.40 here.'
'You've probably got the rest in another pocket?'
'[Remaining very calm] No, just this and my keys.'
'Pfff...well I'll have to get the key for the till then won't I...'
'Thanks very much'.
'...'
'OK, bye!'
'...'
Note how in the entire course of this conversation I managed not to say 'sorry' (which non-English readers should know is how we feel whenever someone else is remotely put out on our account, even if we're not at fault...probably because we're aware of how much wrong we've done in the world. Sorry.).
The joke goes that when the verb 'to be at fault' is taught to primary school kids, it goes like this:
Δεν φταίω (It's not my fault)
Φταις (It's your fault)
Φταί (It's his/her fault)
Δεν φταίμε (It's not our fault)
Φταίτε (It's your fault)
Φταίνε (It's their fault)
Repent and believe the good news, Jesus says. Repentance requires the humility to stop saying 'it's your fault' and accept that actually it's very much mine.
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