Monday Meanderings - 6.12.2017

So the other day, while putting gas in the car, I noticed the little messages printed on the pump handle. They were the usual safety notices, such as "In case of fire, do not remove nozzle" and "No smoking/extinguish all flames" and "Do not top off." But one of the messages said, "Licensed drivers only." Huh? So passengers can't pump gas? Or you have to pass a test before you can legally pump gas? I never knew that. Good thing I am a licensed driver, or we would have been stranded by the side of the road.

Those are not the only messages that have caught my attention lately. Every time our health insurance company sends us any correspondence for any reason whatsoever, they include a printed page that begins with the message "English. ATTENTION: If you do not speak English, language assistance services are available to you." Which is sort of a strange message in and of itself.

But there follows a similar phrase written in 16 different languages. For example, the next sentence is: "Español (Spanish) ATENCIÓN: si habla español, tiene a su disposición..." (if you do speak Spanish...) and then there messages in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog - Filipino, Russian, French Creole, French, Polish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Japanese, Farsi, Navajo and Arabic. No wonder insurance is so expensive.