 I will never forget it. It's like having musical tinnitus.At that
time, I had no idea what having a "small world" meant. I thought it
had something to do with being short.
Obviously, I was wrong, but I take comfort in the fact that none
of those other second- graders would have known why it was a small
world either. If I ever met one of them today, I would declare, "Oh,
my goodness, it's a small world!" which would immediately send us
both into therapy.
Now with a few more years on me, I know that the easier it is to
communicate and do business with people who are on other parts of
the planet, the smaller the world seems to be.
When I was in second grade, we were connected to the rest of the
world by television and long-distance telephone. But even if I could
have afforded to pay the charges for a long-distance call, I would
not have been able to speak to anyone unless I knew their language.
The world wasn't as small as we thought it was.
The Internet and other technology have made the world a much
smaller place.
Now, though kids have barely conquered the English language, they
are expected to learn foreign languages in high school and college.
This is supposed to help one compete globally. Every time I hear
"compete globally," I think of sumo wrestlers. Not sure why.
Probably another throwback to second grade.
For those of us who never took a second language in school, we
have computerized translators. You can type an email in English and
have the computer translate it before you send it to your overseas
business contact.
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 Using the same translators, your business contact can then say
"no" in 500 different languages, because obviously you did not get
it the first time.
These translators are not flawless, however. You have to allow a
little leeway for misinterpretations.
For example, if someone in Germany emailed "How are you?" and you
wrote back "I am fine," the computer program would have translated
that as "I am thin." The recipient might be puzzled and wonder
whether this was a new development. He would then assure you that he
"liked you even when you were fat." This would cause you to wonder
whether you were dealing with a German lunatic.
My mother is fluent in German. To test out the hand-held
translator my husband installed on his phone, he asked my mom to say
something German-ish into his phone.
Always interested in new technology, she spoke to his phone, "Du
bist ein guter mann," over the noise in the room.
His phone has always been a little ornery, and I think it was
trying to drive a wedge between my mother and my husband. My husband
looked at the phone. It interpreted, "You are a horny man."
She swore she didn't say that, but he had no proof.
With these malevolent devices flooding the market, I think we can
conclude that our small world may well be growing into an enormous
world quite soon.
[By LAURA SNYDER]
Laura Snyder is a nationally syndicated columnist,
author and speaker. You can reach her at
lsnyder@lauraonlife.com
or visit www.lauraonlife.com
for more info. |
