Orange Juice

Once or twice a week, a bunch of us from work will go out for lunch, often to Mexican food place called On the Border (though Fuddrucker’s is also popular).

Which leads to a peculiar thing I’ve noticed. I typically order orange juice, which shouldn’t be that unusual, but much of the time, the server is unable to understand me. I usually have to repeat it, and even if not, the server will check to make sure. “Orange juice?” “That’s right.”

We did an experiment one day, where Josh ordered my orange juice, and I ordered his Dr. Pepper. The server understood him, no problem. Damn it! That means the problem is me. I’ve tried making a point of enunciating clearly… after all, those two fricative consonants (ge and j) together could be confusing, and I’m sure it often rolls off people’s tongues like one word. “Ornjooss!” But trying to speak it clearly hasn’t helped much.

I have a theory though, that what really throws them off is that I say please. Not “orange juice,” but “orange juice, please.” Most people don’t say please when they order food here, I’ve noticed. So my suspicion is that that extra bit at the end confuses the issue. Dunno. But I get to experiment with it on a weekly basis, and it has become a subject of some amusement among my coworkers.

No, it’s not my Canadian accent!