Language problem

Some years ago, I was in Llandudno, North Wales, on an accident investigation. A ship had been washed ashore and broken up in the storm. All twenty crew were picked out of the icy water and airlifted to safety by the coastguard. They were Polish nationals and spoke very little English.

We hired a meeting room in a local hotel. Interviewing the traumatised crew, one by one, with the help of an interpreter was exhausting. After five interviews, I decided to get some fresh air. Walking around in the garden outside, I saw one of the crew members smoking a cigarette under a tree. He was the large able-bodied seaman (AB) with a walrus moustache, the second witness I had interviewed that morning. I distinctly remembered his moustache.

I was aware the ship owner was arranging a bus to repatriate them to Poland. Walking over, I made conversation,

“You go home tomorrow?”

“You what?” he looked puzzled. Language problem, I figured.

Poking him in the chest with my index finger, I spoke slow and clear.

“You,” I said pointing east (in the general direction of Poland), “go – home – HOME. Go home bus.”

I mimicked a bus driver driving a bus with its low-set steering wheel. Getting carried away with my charade and remembering an Indian state transport bus of the 70s, I squeezed an imaginary rubber horn with my right hand while continuing to steer deftly with my left.

“Pom Pom.”

He looked at me in bewilderment. It was as if he didn’t trust his eyes and his ears. PTSD, my well-honed sense of empathy advised me. I too would feel the same if my ship had broken up into pieces. I didn’t give up and for further clarity, used the double-shift gear stick to move up a gear or two. No comprehension- not yet.

Just then, a woman approached us. The ‘AB’ turned to her and said,

“See if you can help him, Lucy. He doesn’t speak much English and I haven’t the foggiest idea what he’s trying to tell me.”

And just as I was beginning to understand the situation, the real AB with the walrus moustache walked past us shouting at someone on his phone in Polish.