Una Vez

24 Posts under my belt and I've somehow managed to not write about Erik, or one of his stories. This is a bit mind boggling considering the number of situations that he manages to get himself into.

Since some readers don't know Erik, I figure a proper introduction is in order. We met in 8th grade, but didn't really become friends until junior year in High School. He actually dated a girl I had a crush on, so I didn't have a lot of love for him at first, but we ended up in a programming class together, and the rest is history I guess. We bonded over BASIC programming, love of classic Nintendo, and our mutual failings with members of the opposite sex. The difference with Erik and I is that the ladies love him and he still can't score, but that's a story for another time. Erik's one of the funniest guys I know, but he's even dryer in his delivery than I am, and I think that's often times lost on people. He's a bit quirky too, and I think people don't expect that.

But enough about my man-crush on my best friend. I thought I'd introduce Erik with a classic story that I was reminded of recently.

When we were younger Erik had a job doing banquet set up at the Ritz Carlton. It was a good job for him, and I think he enjoyed it. On one particular night Erik was mopping the floors and he had one of those signs that read, "Be careful, wet floor." Being that we live in Arizona, it also said it in Spanish, "Cuidado Piso Mojado".

One odd trait that Erik and I have in common is that we both like to use Spanish even though neither of us has more than 2 years worth of High School Spanish knowledge. To this day we have numerous things that we say in Spanish for no real reason.

Well, as Erik mopped the floors he told his coworkers, "Cuidado Piso Mojado!" He happily continued to mop and tell everyone who passed by, "Cuidado Piso Mojado". Many of Erik's coworkers were Mexican, and many of them spoke Spanish only. Eventually, one guy who did speak English pulled him aside and let him know that while what he was saying was technically correct, with his white boy accent it was dangerously close to, "Cuidado Pinche Mojado" which roughly translates to "Be careful wetback".