Scribble Scrabble 4 - Notorious



I remember when I opened my little law office.  One day I came home after an extremely slow day at the office and I complained to Gramita,  "Un día bien lento en la oficina..."1

She was washing dishes, I remember.  She said over the clatter of the running water against the dishes, "¿Qué?  ¿Cómo fue?"2

"Pues... nada.... que pasé un día bien lento en la oficina....."3

"¿Oh?", as she continues washing the dishes.

"Yeah, Gramita.  Hoy entro un cliente y le notarizé unos papeles."4

Gramita almost drops the glass she's washing and turns off the water and dries her hands quickly.  "¡¿Qué?!",5  she exclaims incredulously.

I wasn't sure what she heard, so I repeated, "Yeah, Gramita, notarizé unos papeles hoy...."6

She clasps her hands together as if in prayer and looks up towards the heavens!  "¿¿¿Tú eres notario???"7

"Sí, soy notario.... "8

"¡Ay Virgen!  ¡¡¡Mi nena es notario!!!  ¡Qué increible!  ¡¡¡Gracias a Dios y a la Virgen y a todos los Santos!!!"9

"What!", I’m baffled.

"Ayyy!  Tengo que llamar a toda la familia.  Mi nena -¡¡¡un notario!!!"10

My Gramita has never been prouder of me in all my life!  That is my NOTORIETY- or should I say NOTARIETY!

I was so happy that day that I finally pleased her and all it took was a stamp and my scribble scrabble of a signature.  I should have guessed it!  I thought I’d have to be admitted into the Supreme Court in order to please her… ahhh the Supreme Court!  I had almost forgotten about that!


Translations:
  1. Spanish for: A very slow day at the office today.
  2. Spanish for: Oh, nothing. I just had a very slow day at the office.
  3. Spanish for: Today a client came in and I notarized some papers.
  4. Spanish for: What!?!
  5. Spanish for: I notarized some papers today...
  6. Spanish for: You’re a notary public???
  7. Spanish for: Yes, I’m a notary.
  8. Spanish for: Virgin Mary!  My child is a notary public!!!  How incredible! Thank you God and the Virgin Mary and all the Saints!!!
  9. This conversation is a classic misunderstanding of being lost in translation.  A notary public in English,  in the USA, is simply a person who took a class and passed a test which gave them a license to be a notary public.  Therefore a notary is not a lawyer or even close to being a lawyer.   However, in Latin America and in Puerto Rico, a notary must be a  lawyer.  But a lawyer need not be a notary.  Therefore a notary is more than a lawyer and is a very well respected occupation in Latin America.
  10. Spanish for: Wow!  I have to call the whole family!  My child - a notary public!

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