"Bob Eager" wrote in message
...
Some years ago, we wanted some bread (won't say where we were yet). I
stayed outside the shop, and SWMBO went in. Through the window I
witnessed all the miscommunication. She had several goes before she got
the right word for the kind of load she wanted. Paying then became
another entertainment. In the end, she held out a handful of coins and
the shop assistant took what they needed.

Where were we?




Gateshead.

My dad had a colleague at work who came from somewhere in the North East,
though I didn't know that at the time. She came to our house one day (I was
in my early teens) and after she'd been talking for a while I was intrigued
by her accent. Luckily I waited till after she'd gone before I said to dad
"She's foreign, isn't she - but which country does she come from?"