Navajo Lessons

While driving through Arizona I thought about putting “Speaks Navajo,” on my resume. It would have two benefits. One would be similar to that of professing to speak Spanish: it would prove that I am industrious enough to learn a language. The other is that no one will try to speak it with me. I’ll never be tested. That is unless I apply for a job at an Arizona university. The down-shot is that I do not speak Navajo and the claim would be a false one. Soon after this notion entered my mind, while entering a Denny’s, a Navajo couple asked if I could help them on their way to Albuquerque or Denver. I gave them $1.25. The woman said “please” in Navajo and tried to teach me the word. The man in turn tried to teach me the Navajo word for thank you. I said, “thank you” in English and entered the restaurant. Already I had failed my first Navajo lesson.