På Vei

På Vei (Or, ordering [a] foreign book[s])

(Scene: On the phone with the NYU bookstore)

Hello. I'm taking Norwegian I and needed two books, that I'd like shipped to my house.

Okay. What are the titles?

Well, the title is P... A with little circle over it, you know, a special Scandinavian character, space, another word, v, e, i.

Right, well, do you know the course number.

Yes. Just one second. Sorry.
.... ok, sorry about that. It's X, dot, ....

Actually, you could look for it right off our Website.

Hmmm... Tried that. But, what is the address? I'll try again.

bookstores.nyu.edu

bookSTORES???... dot nyu dot edu?

Yeh.

Okay.

And, you can type in the course number there and your books will show up on the results page.

Okay. Thanks. Bye.

Bye. Have a nice day.

Thanks. You too.

(Scene: At my computer)

:::Types in URL:::
:::Types in course number:::
:::No results:::
:::I'm going to Barne's & Noble, maybe they can special order it.:::

(Scene: Barnes & Noble Brick & Mortar store)

:::Scans shelves in the foreign language area:::
:::Let's see... they have two English - Norsk / Norsk - English dictionaries:::
:::No På vei... I'm not surprised:::
:::Finds a store employee:::

Hello. I doubt you have this, but could you check in your computer for it, so maybe I can get it special order it from you guys.

Sure.
Let's type in the author first.
:::Types in "Ellingsen":::
No, titles for Ellingsen.

There's two authors. Try this one.

:::Types "MacDonald":::
Okay. We have stuff by MacDonald, but for what title was it again?

:::Shows a paper with the title written on it::

Pah Vye?

Well, there's two that I need. One's a book, the other, a workbook, both with the same titles. På Vei (Poh vay).

Okay. :::Starts typing it in the computer:: Now, it was P, a...

Well, it's P, A with a little circle over the top of it...

Right, right.

Then, v, e, i.

:::Insists on typing P, then regular A, anyway... like Pa:::
Nope. Don't have it. Must be a foreign book that's not available in English or something.

Ahh, well, yeh, it is a foreign book. It's Norwegian. (Thinking to myself what a genius this guy must be. What an idiot.)

(Scene: The next day... on the phone with the NYU bookstore again)

Hi.

Hi.

I'm taking Norwegian and needed some books for the class, and was looking to have them shipped to me, if at all possible, since I'm not from the New York area, and need the books before Monday's class, and didn't want to make a special trip if I didn't have to, but I couldn't find the books I needed when I search for them on your Web site yesterday, so I have the ISBNs...

Well, you could just tell me the course number...

OKay. It's X, dot...

Well, let me transfer you and after I transfer you, when the person answers, just give him or her your course number.

Okay.

Hello.

Hi.

I'm taking Norwegian and needed some books for the class, and was looking to have them shipped to me, if at all possible, since I'm not from the New York area, and need the books before Monday's class, and didn't want to make a special trip if I didn't have to, but I couldn't find the books I needed when I search for them on your Web site yesterday, and the person I was just on the phone with had me transferred to you, so I could tell you my course number and you could help me out.

Okay.

It's X, dot, 2, 4, 4, dash, 9, dash, 9.

Okay. Let's see.

And, it's Norwegian I.

Okay.

Alright, there's two books here listed.

Right, right. I need a book and a workbook.

Okay... and the name is Pah Veg

Not, pah veg, hahaha, no.

Errr Pah V-G.

Actually, Poh Vay. It's P, A with a little circle over the A, a Scandinavian character, you know, but I guess your computers aren't that smart.

Hahahaa. No, they're not.

Hahahah. Then, space, another word, Vay... V-E-I. But, yeh, what you're seeing on the computer must be it.

Okay. Now, there's cassettes that go with it. Did you want those too?

Uhm. How much?

One-hundred seventeen dollars.

Oh no, no. hahaha. Maybe another time. Oh yeh, with the workbook, there's a disk and a Cd, right?

Uhmmm. :::Checks::: Yeh, there's a CD in the back of the workbook, and like a floppy.

Okay. Good. That's what I need. Can I have that shipped Next Day, cuz I need it quick.

Let me check. :::Checks::: Yes. We can do that.