Newbies

Newbies on the island are a source of amusement for us seasoned ex-pats. Confused, they begin many conversations with “I don’t understand why...” or “How come they don’t just…“ Confusion turns to bewilderment and sentences begin with “Don’t they realize how simple it would be to….,” or “but it would make so more sense for them….” Sometimes the rest of us will break out in laughter when a newbie just starts a sentence with the word why.

Sam is a newbie on the island. He arrived fresh faced and full of academic book learning in the areas of economics and political science. I chuckle at just the thought of Sam trying to apply his education here. Sam is joining his wife who has been here for a two full months. He has a lot to learn. Driving to one of the two restaurants on the island with pizza on the menu, Sam’s wife, who had noticed earlier that the supermarket shelves had been restocked but the refrigeration case was pretty empty, remarked that she hoped the restaurant had cheese. Sam’s response was “why wouldn’t they have cheese?”

One does not assume here that a restaurant will be serving all the items on a menu. I look forward to being amused by Sam for the next month or so. For those of you who are curious –Fifteen minutes after placing their pizza order, the couple learned that his wife was in fact correct and the restaurant did not have cheese. They did not have pizza that night.