S-Market Story

On many occasions now, I have used this blog to make fun of my own ineptitude in Finnish (check out for example the Spare Moose post). But now comes a chance to laugh at a Finnish person's struggle with English.

I was told this annecdote by a Finnish friend of mine. The story is about a friend of hers (let's call her Sirpa) who used to work in the butcher's department of the Finnish supermaket S-Market.

Once, Sirpa went on one of those notorious booze cruises between Finland and Sweden. As per the custom on board such ships, she became rather tipsy, and found herself chatting with a rather attractive guy, who turned out to be British. 

All was going swimmingly well, until the guy asked her what she did for a living. Sirpa responded in English, sluring her words: "I work in the ass-market, in the meat section".

The Brit made his excuses and left, no doubt reminding himself of the reputation of Nordic women for being uninhibited straight talkers.