Stories of Kindness from Around the World

   Living in Finland yet not speaking any Finnish has forced me to use English quite a bit. Finland is, officially, a two-language country though; the people of Finland are required to learn Swedish in school (which happens to be my mother tongue). However, only a very small minority of Finns actually speak the language beyond school level.

   Upon a trip to the post office earlier today, where the staff has name tags with little flags representing the languages they speak (usually Finnish only, but in some cases also English and Swedish), I was fortunate enough to be attended by a staff member who, according to the tag, spoke all three languages. Still, I wanted to be sure. Sometimes the sign means they’ve studied the language, though it doesn’t necessarily mean they actually understand it.   I asked her – in Swedish – if she spoke the language. The answer was a blank stare, followed by an uncertain “not very good”.

   I kindly asked her if she preferred English, but this too was very problematic for her. “Great, just my luck,” I thought to myself, but quickly felt bad about it. After all, the responsibility to represent these two foreign languages had been put on this poor young girl's shoulders, probably because none of the other staff members spoke either language particularly well either, and someone had to carry the weight.

   Anyway, anyone with any skill in any language whatsoever can beat me and my skills in Finnish. Literally, those skills don’t exist at all. So, I had to pick, and English seemed to be her strong suit. 

   Our conversation went on but with quite a few stops and   misunderstandings along the way. After a while, though, I’d gotten what I came for. As I thanked the girl and was just about to leave, I stopped myself and turned back to her. In a mix of feeling sorry for her and appreciating the fact that she’d done the best she could, I said something along the following lines: “You know, I admire you for your bravery. Thank you so much for your help, and thank you for being here to assist me when I needed it. You’re doing a great job, and you truly deserve the three flags on your tag there.”

I don’t know how much she understood of it, but that didn’t matter. She did give me a smile and said “thank you” - in Swedish even - so I believe the message got through.