Uncommon Language
Two long lost friends happen to find one another again, they catch up on old times and decide to meet up. They both have hectic lives and busy schedules but find a small window of time when they can meet. They agree on a mid way point and set a time. One friend heads out to meet the other and, along the way, his car breaks down. He looks to his left and sees a hot air balloon field. He runs over and hopes to catch a ride. He waits and waits by a balloon for its operator, knowing his window to meet his friend is short.
After a few minutes with no operator in sight, he decides he can figure out the balloon himself and jumps, casts off the lines and takes to flight. It isn't long before the field is out of sight and he is completely lost. After a while he catches a cold spot and the balloon descends. He sees a man standing on a hill top and calls out to him.
"Helloooooo sir, can you help me?", to which the man on the hill responds, "What do you need?". "I am lost, I need to know exactly where I am!". "Ah, you are 23 degress 14 minutes east latitude, 200 degress 11 minutes north longitude. You are 112 feet above sea level and about 30 feet above ground level.". The man in the balloon rolls his eyes and says; "You, sir, MUST be an engineer!", to which the man on the ground replies, ""Why yes I am, how did you know?".
"You have provided me with an abundance of information that doesn't help me at all!". The man on the hill replies, "Oh, you must be a manager.", to which the man in the balloon replies, "Yes I am, how did you know?". "You have no idea where you are or what you are doing, you came to me for help and I provided you with an exact answer to your question. Now you have somehow concluded that your predicament is somehow my fault.".
As the balloon begins drifting away again, the man on the hill yells out; "Perhaps what you need is an artist!". The man in the balloon says; "Why is that?"....."Because in my experience all a manager really wants is someone to paint them a pretty picture.".
Do you have any instances of sharing a common tongue without speaking the same language? Do share!