Fluent in Faux Pas and Artful Overthinking

"Weren't you embarrassed?"
"I was, but then I laughed harder."

In an epic misadventure, I once walked into an Italian café and quite confidently mispronounced its name La Gioia. I said it in a way that only a typically Indian tongue could manage (I’d rather not repeat it). In fact, it was worse because sometimes I am a lousy reader who manages to spot letters that aren't even there.

The café owner, very graciously, corrected me and explained that the phrase means joy, delight. For a split second, I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole.

After settling down, my husband and I shared a long, good laugh over an exquisite cold coffee. While ordering food, I was careful to ask for the correct pronunciation, just to be safe. The elegant, minimalist decor and the mellifluous piano in the background were a constant reminder of my gauche Italian ignorance. Even after returning home, we were still chuckling over it.

The incident stayed with me, and I wanted to pen it down. But I thought it needed a takeaway. A hidden meaning, a moral tucked somewhere, or some piece of psyche to be decoded. I thought, overthought, and overanalyzed like usual. Nothing.

And so I just scribbled it down as it was. Maybe some experiences are meant to simply embrace you. Maybe some experiences are just what they are — La Gioia.