At the confluence of Cultues

A lot of funny eddies are created when streams of two different cultures meet at a confluence. Here is a real life experience of a friend of mine

A friend of mine, who hails from Iran, belongs to the generation of Iranians who were studying in the US when the Iranian revolution took place.  Most of these students found monetary support yanked due to the uprising and had to fend for themselves in America.  Many were forced to work hard to finance their education.  My friend recalls how he and some of his other Iranian friends drove taxi cabs in the Washington DC area for a shiny nickel.

He recounts a very funny incident when he, along with a few of his Iranian friends, was sitting 'benched' at a Taxi Cab dispatch center waiting to be called.  The dispatcher, a black guy, was partial and kept them waiting while he kept giving dispatches to  his own friends.  Now we know that in our part of the world, an insult to a man's wife is taken as a direct attack on a his honor- and is considered to be 'extreme provocation'  for which proverbial "khoon ki nadiyan" often flow.  The same is true for Persians.  Finally out of frustration, one of the Iranian guys, made a vulgar snide remark about the dispatcher's wife in Farsi.

 The dispatcher asked one of the other Iranian guys, "Hey, what did he just say ?".

In an attempt to get his friend in some hot water, his friend jokingly translated the remark ad verbatim into English.

At that, the dispatchers face lit up.

He smiled and said, "Hey! you want her man?!!! Take her !  I am tired of her big fat *** anyways.  You can have her, brother.  I am looking for a way to get rid of her.  You want her phone number ?"

Everyone broke out in laughing.  One of the guys quipped back..... "Well, you know what Joe, I might just think about it, but first you have got to give me a dispatch!"