And I Thought "The Toilet" Was Weird...

The other guy who works in my department, John, is a little odd. He's middle aged and hates people - especially customers. He spends all of every shift hiding in the stock rooms or "running errands" that don't need to be done. He's practically never on the sales floor and he has this habit of always explaining to you why he's busy. Presumably this is so people think that he is actually working.

I asked Keely, the girl who's been training me about John, and she told me that technically he has the exact same position as me, but no one makes him do any actual work because he's been with the company a long time. Even the floor and department managers openly joke about how John avoids work and wastes time.

So I wasn't too surprised when I bumped into him on the floor and he told me that he "had to go somewhere" and then abruptly hurried away from the customers. Then, about thirty seconds later, Rachael - the floor manager - came over and asked me if I knew were John was hiding. I laughed and said that John had to go "somewhere" (making air-quotes). At this Rachael composed herself and replied, quite seriously, "Oh, good. At least he's not slacking off." No sarcasm in her voice at all.

I was quite confused until a co-worker explained to me that "go somewhere" is British slang for "use the washroom".