Farsi

There are two regulars that run U-scan at work.
One is Indian, the other is Iranian.

The indian woman is very calm and mellow.

The iranian woman is very outspoken and always yelling at people, especially customers.
She's a bit rough around the edges, and she's always complaining that i do jack shit, while she, herself is also doing jack shit.

So we have this love/hate thing going on.
She keeps telling me how much she despises me, but i think it's just her way of keeping herself entertained.
i might even be one of her favorite employees to interact with.

today i was talking to her. she knows i'm into all that archaeology crap.
she asks about the book i'm reading. i tell her.
then she asks me how to say my intended profession: archaeology.
she asked me to break it down for her slowly so she could more easily hear it and learn it.
as i was doing that, she wrote it down in Farsi.

you read it right to left. it's broken down roughly like ar-chae-ol-ogy, although she said that she wrote the "G" as a "J".
Apparently farsi is one of a few written languages that use the arabic alphabet.
it's much like how Spanish, French, and English all have the same lettering, but the pronunciation can be totally different.
So farsi and arabic use the same letters, but they sound different.

She went on to tell me, somewhat biasedly, how Farsi is now spoken in Afghanistan, but those people use it very harshly compared to the Iranians. Her example was, what you might say to a child in Afghanistan to have them be quiet is "SHUT UP!" in Iran.

she also mentioned how Farsi has a bit of French influence. she said they use words like merci for thank you.
i wondered, but didn't ask, "did they not have a way of expressing gratitude before the persians encountered the french?
...and to get courtesy lessons from the french!?!!?

she may have a very abrasive attitude, but somehow a great majority of the people in the store, including many of the customers, like her.
i think she has one of the biggest fan bases at the store.
i guess its just her outgoing personality that just happens to be coupled with the abrasiveness.
i know she gives me shit daily, but i don't think she really means it.
otherwise, why the hell would she bother to tell me about her culture?