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Monica
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Todd
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Other Bad Jobs
Monica and Todd continue their talk about previous jobs they disliked.
Todd: So, have you had any other jobs you didn't like?
Monica: Well, I trained to be a chef when I left school, and I've had a lot of jobs actually over the years in different restaurants, and some of them I didn't like at all.
Todd: What was it about the job you didn't like?
Monica: I didn't like the people I was working with a lot of the time, so I worked with some very aggressive chefs, and some people who weren't very good at communicating their ideas to me, I felt, and so I found some jobs difficult.
Todd: Right, yeah.
Monica: not a lot of fun.
Todd: Yeah, that would be no fun at all. I think on of the worst jobs I ever had was a part-time job, and it was only one night only, and it was on Valentines Day, and I had to walk around and try to sell roses to people on Valentine's Day, and I was like sixteen years old, and I couldn't get anybody to buy the roses, and I would go up and every one thought I was really cheesy for approaching them to try and buy a rose, but the person who hired me said I had to get rid of all the roses by the end of the night, so it was just a miserable, miserable night, and I think I got most of them sold, and at the end of the night, I just paid the eight bucks or whatever out of my own pocket and just paid for it myself
Monica: So tell me, did you have more luck selling the flowers to guys or two women?
Todd: Well, definitely only the guys bought the roses. The women didn't, but was really awkward is you would go up and try to sell the rose, and the guy didn't want to buy the rose, and then the woman doesn't want you there because it makes the guy look awkward, so it was a bad day.
Monica: So was it easier approaching guys by themselves?
Todd: A little bit. Sometimes guys walking down the street would see up and they would be thankful, cause they would think, " Oh, I get a rose" you know, like "I almost forgot". Actually it was really hard to sell them and it was just a very long night.
cheesy
Everyone thought I was really cheesy.
When something is cheesy, it is really silly and not genuine. When someone acts cheesy, they appear silly and people often tell them so. Here are a few examples using cheesy:
- He is so cheesy. No one takes him seriously.
- He gave us a cheesy smile.
bucks
I paid the eight bucks.
A "buck" is a dollar in American slang. So three bucks is three dollars. You only use the term "buck" in casual conversation. You would use the term "dollar" in business settings. Notice the following:
- I need five bucks to buy lunch.
- Do you have two bucks I can borrow?
out of my own pocket
I just paid for it out of my own pocket.
When you pay for something "out of pocket" that means you use your own money for something you should not have to pay for. Often when people pay out of pocket, they get the money back in a reimbursement. Here are few more example sentences:
- His boss paid for his hospital bills out of his own pocket.
- On business trips, pay for expenses out of your own pocket.The company will reimburse you later.
go up
I had to go up to people and try to sell roses.
The verb phrase "to go up" to someone, means to approach a person or people. You can use the phrase also for approaching things, like "go up to the white board". Notice the following:
- I hate going up to people I do not know.
- I went up to the man and told him to be quiet.
look awkward
It makes the guy look awkward.
When you "look awkward" you look different and out of place. One can look awkward or feel awkward. Here are a few examples:
- He looked awkward standing on the street in his pajamas.
- I looked awkward being the only single person at the party.
Vocabulary Quiz
awkward • cheesy
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