The Day I Thought I Was Gonna be Arrested

Last week, many of you enjoyed reading about my biggest embarrassment, so I thought I'd share another fun and insightful story this week. This one takes us back to when I was 19 and visiting Atlanta for the first time.

Visiting Atlanta at 19

When I was 19, I had the exciting opportunity to visit Atlanta, USA, for the first time. 

After studying English for over 12 years, I felt confident in my language skills. 

I could read books, listen to music, and play video games in English without any issues. However, real-world application proved to be a different beast altogether.

The McDonald's Incident

On my first day in the US, I decided to take my friend’s five-year-old kid to McDonald’s for ice cream. Feeling good about my English, I approached the cashier to ask for some napkins. 

But instead of asking for “napkins,” I inadvertently asked for a “kidnapping.” 

The cashier’s face turned pale, and she looked at me in utter confusion and panic. Here I was, a stranger with a small child, asking for a kidnapping!

It took a moment for the misunderstanding to sink in. 

When I finally realized my mistake, I tried to clarify that I wanted napkins.

Despite my best efforts, the cashier had a hard time believing me since "napkins" and "kidnapping" sound quite different in English but similar enough to a Portuguese speaker. 

Eventually, after some frantic explanations and a lot of awkwardness, we got our ice cream and napkins, and no one got arrested.

The Vancouver Incident