“Where should I go to buy green chiles?” Where do you go to buy green chiles?

Breakfast with my daughter at a New Mexican restaurant in Santa Fe, known for its red and green chile sauces. I ordered my breakfast burrito “Christmas style” with some of both; my daughter went with red, only. We greeted and began our conversation with our server in English and, when she delivered our food, my daughter thanked her in Spanish (Castilian Spanish, to be sure, let’s remember that Spain is not fondly remembered by many people in this part of the world). Our server, brilliantly cheerful, accommodated my daughter, responding to her in Mexican Spanish.

When my daughter wanted two additional tortillas, she asked in Spanish; our server enthusiastically continued the conversation in Spanish.

When we’d finished our enormous breakfast servings, my daughter expressed interest in buying some chiles and so she asked our server, in Spanish, “Where should I go to buy green chiles? Where do you go to buy green chiles? ”… and the two of them were off and running in Spanish, our server standing between us at the corner of the table, looking back and forth at each of us.

For at least half the conversation, several minutes of discussion, our server, very polite, addressed her comments to me, apparently assuming (because of my daughter’s fluency) that I, too, am fluent in Spanish. I am not. Little more than “please” and “thank you”. So, I listened intently, nodding and smiling to encourage continued dialog. I said not a word; my daughter carried the discussion which expanded to include one other server in the restaurant who corroborated our server’s recommendations.

When all was said on the subject, my daughter thanked our server for her counsel. Our server responded and turned to look at me. I smiled warmly and replied, “Gracias”, imitating my daughter (it was the best I could do). Not convincing and politely received.

Table cleared, we settled our bill, I tipped our server generously, and we were off, bellies full, to pursue green chiles.

“What did you learn from her?”, I asked. Turns out that our server shared that she was born and raised in Mexico, that she’s now a U.S. citizen, that she’s an enthusiastic chef for her family, and more. And, unbeknownst to her, I didn’t understand a word of it.

Nick Miller is President of Clarity Advantage based in Concord, MA. He assists banks and credit unions to generate more and more profitable relationships, faster, with business clients, their owners, and their employees through better sales strategies and execution. Additional articles on Clarity’s web site.