This happened in January this year so idk if this counts as a childhood story but whatever.
On that school day, I was walking around our classroom like usual. One of our classmates got her Vaccination card laminated, and wore it around her neck. We were all laughing about it, she was too. Then it happened. I saw our class rep (Let's call her Anna for now) talking to a figure dressed in a burqa (or bōrka, as we call it). But the burqa was a bit out of the ordinary. You see, as I live in a Muslim majority country, it isn't surprising to see women in burqas. Some students at my school wear burqas as well, but most just stick with a hijab. Others don't cover their head, including myself, who is a part of the minor religions in our country.
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But this person's burqa wasn't like any other. Unlike the picture above, the eyes were hidden as well. So I was actually a bit confused on how they could see through that dark cloth. So I innocently walked up to them and asked, "Excuse me, but how can you see? Your eyes are covered." I tried to say this in a polite manner, and people might not see anything wrong with it. A child's curiosity. But there was a problem.
You see, English is not our native language. In our language Bangla/ Bengali, there are three words for the English word "you". They are: তুই (pronounced tui), তুমি (pronounced tumi) and আপনি (pronounced apni). তুই is used for very close people who are the same age or younger than you. তুমি is used for acquaintances, not so close friends or someone you know. You can also use it if you just don't wanna call the person তুই. For instance, I call class rep Anna 'তুমি', not because I don't consider her a friend, but because I've been calling her that for the past seven years. I'm too used to it.
And lastly, আপনি is used for unknown people or people older than you. For example, you call your teachers, friends' parents আপনি.
So this is the sentence I used: "কিছু মনে কোরো না, কিন্তু তুমি ওটার ভেতর দিয়ে দেখছ কীভাবে?" (Please don't mind if I accidentally offend you, but how can you see through that?)
The reader can note that I used তুমি, the word used for people near your age. So Anna pulled me to the side of the classroom and said, "Dude, what the hell did you just do?"
I replied, "What? What did I do?"
Then she uttered those dreadful words. "That's somebody's parent."
OH MY DUCKING GOD. MY DUMBASS JUST CALLED SOMEONE'S MUM তুমি.
In reply, I simply said, "Oh shit."
I heard Anna talking to her, but I didn't hear when class rep called her Auntie, what we call our friends' mums. I thought she was a student, due to her height, which was less than mine.
So, in conclusion, I embarrassed myself in front of a classmate's mum. Hurray.
PS. To those who know me in real life, Anna is our lovely Achoilla (nickname)
