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Pathetic Bob's English Lessons
By Emmuttmax
14 July 2008
With my dog, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Pathetic Bob’s English Lessons

Pathetic Bob wandered into my office this morning, flopped down on the tile floor, and said, “You know Mike, I’ve been bitching about the economy lately, but I’ve been doing some research, and I put things in a little perspective.”

“Yeah,” I said, “and just what did you perspect?”
 
“Well,” he began in a somber tone, “although things are getting pretty tough here, I don’t think it will ever get as bad as in Eeng Land.”

“Really? I like England, and I thought they were doing okay over there.”

“There you go thinking again, and you thought wrong. Did you know the average person has to pay about $17 million to buy a house?”

“Wow,” I exclaimed, “that’s about 32 million pounds.”

“Yeah,” said Bob, “those houses weigh a lot over there. Also, did you know their mathematics is based on the Dewey decimal system? I mean it’s no wonder their economy is screwed up; who ever heard of doing math with by a library coding system? And another thing, Eeng Land’s money is based on sterling silver. You can actually buy goods and services with knives, forks, and spoons.”

I honestly don’t know where he comes up with this stuff. I shook my head in bewilderment and asked, “Bob, where do you come up with this stuff?”

“Internet blogs,” he answered. “You can find out anything on blogs.”

“What else did you find out about England?”

“They have too many people named Oliver, Nigel, and Ian. They have urchins in the cities, not just the sea. They have class, both upper and lower. When they go to the theater, they shake spears at actors. They have a King whose name is Big Ben. They still watch Telly even though he died shortly after Kojak was canceled. There was a beetle infestation in the ‘60s that caused young women to wear very short skirts. I have to tell you Mike, that country has some really weird history”

I shook my head again in amazement. “Bob, I don’t think you’ve really been focusing on what you’ve been reading. You’ve just spouted a bunch of half-truths and distortions about a great country. I’ve been to England, and I loved it; I think you’d love it to if you went.”

“Well, why don’t you take me?”

“I can’t afford it right now. The exchange rate is terrible. The American economy is much worse than the British economy.”

Bob thought for a moment. “What if I change my name to Oliver; can we get a discount?”

(c) 2008

Reviews

Written by Nick (167 comments posted) 15th July 2008
Hey Mike, 
 
I Couldn't resist commenting on this Bob story. Pretty funny in places and your not far wrong with the house prices. 
 
I also like the idea of Big Ben being our king - it, at least, would have a function!! 
 
On the negative side - I felt you could've been more disparaging towards England - Especially since I live in Scotland!! 
 
One final question - Did you use England as the general term for Great Britain or did you specifically mean England. I know a lot of Americans use England when they mean Great Britain but then this could've be part of the joke - Just checking is all. 
 
Nick

Written by Emmuttmax (203 comments posted) 15th July 2008
Hi Nick, thanks for the comments. Specifically, I meant Great England.

Written by Bottleblondesurfer (3713 comments posted) 15th July 2008
"Great England"?? Actually I quite like that. It's a lot simpler. You could have England and Great England. 
A very funny piece. I loved all Bobs misunderstandings. They have a certain distorted logic about them. But you can tell Bob the house prices are dropping. You can pick up a nice semi for under 10 mil now. 
There were so many funny lines I can' t pick out any special one. Having you as the voice of sanity helped highlight the humour. I'm sure Bob is in good company over in America,though. 
cheers 
jane 

Written by TwistedTales (548 comments posted) 16th July 2008
The spelling of England, is it deliberate? Bob is getting smarter by the day. I liked the bit about the names.  
 
Typo:  
 
I think you’d love it to if you went.” - love it too.  
 
Enjoyed.  
 
Regards, 
TT

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