ESL Podcast 418 – Getting Bad Service

Buck¹: I’m never going to that coffee house again!

Star: Why? What happened?

Buck: It’s the third time in a week that I’ve had lousy service. I don’t expect five-star treatment, but I do expect service industry employees to be at least civil.

Star: What happened this time?

Buck: I walked in and went up to the counter to place my order. The woman working there was talking to her friend, another customer. I stood there, clearly needing to be waited on and she couldn’t have cared less.

Star: You mean she didn’t even acknowledge² you?

Buck: Are you kidding? She didn’t stop talking for one second. When she finally took a breath, I told her my order. She gave me a dirty look and finally turned around to get my coffee. She practically³ threw it at me!

Star: Well, maybe she was having a bad day. At least you got your coffee.

Buck: I got a cup of coffee, but not the kind I ordered. When I realized it, I went back to the counter and she was still talking to her friend. I interrupted her and told her that I got the wrong order. She had the chutzpah to try to tell me that I had made a mistake in telling her my order. Not only did she not take responsibility for her mistake, she tried to tell me that it was my fault!

Star: That’s really infuriating. What are you going to do?

Buck: One good thing about her talking with her friend for so long is that I got her name. I’ll be calling the manager to complain.

Star: Aren’t you overreacting?

Buck: No, I’m not. She’s lucky I didn’t pour the coffee over her head!


Script⁴ by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

2 acknowledge   

vt.承认...的权威，告知，收到，报偿

参考例句：

• With so much evidence against him he had to acknowledge his error.在这么多的证据面前，他不得不承认错误。
• It is ungracious of me not to acknowledge your help.你大力帮助而我尚未表示谢意，十分失礼。

3 practically   

adv.差不多；几乎；实际地，从实际角度

参考例句：

• He solved the problem very practically.他很实事求是地解决了这个问题。
• She's practically always late for school.她上学几乎总是迟到。

4 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。