Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 763, Dealing with an Apartment Super.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 763.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpod.com.
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This episode is a dialogue between George and Louise.
It's about having problems in your apartment and calling the person who's responsible for fixing things in an apartment building the super.
Let's get started.
Did you call the super about fixing the leaky faucet?
I called him on Monday, but I haven't heard back yet.
Well, call him again.
This window is stuck, and it won't close.
I'll call him, but I think he's avoiding our calls.
He's the worst super we've ever had.
He's in charge of the maintenance around this place, but instead he hides out in his apartment.
Whenever there's a problem, he tells us he's too busy to get to it right away.
Too busy doing what, I'd like to know.
Maybe he is overworked.
There are 25 units in this building, so it's conceivable that he's busy making repairs somewhere.
That's what he's counting on.
People like you who give him the benefit of the doubt.
All the while, he's drinking coffee and reading the newspaper somewhere.
Mark my words.
I'll call him again.
Maybe we'll catch him in his apartment.
Where are you going and what are you doing with that baseball bat?
I'm going to track down that super and bring him back here.
Come hell or high water, he's making those repairs today.
George begins our dialogue by asking Luis, Did you call the super up? about fixing the leaky faucet?
The word super is short for superintendent.
A superintendent in this case is a person who is responsible for fixing any problems that you have in an apartment building.
So if you have, as does George and Luis, a leaky faucet, you would call this person and they would be responsible for fixing it or bringing someone in to fix it.
A faucet is where the water comes out in a sink.
If it's leaky, that means water is coming out slowly, even when it's not supposed to.
Louise says that she called the super on Monday, but that she hasn't heard back yet.
To hear back from someone means to receive a message back from someone that you have tried to contact.
Either you sent an email or you've written a letter. or you called someone.
They were supposed to call you back or write you back, and you have not yet gotten a response.
You haven't heard back yet.
George says, well, call him again.
The window is stuck, and it won't close.
The window won't close down all the way, and that's what George means when he says it's stuck.
It could be stuck S-T-U-C-K open, meaning you can't close it, or it could be stuck closed, meaning you can't open the window.
Louis says I'll call him, but I think he's avoiding our calls, meaning he's not answering his phone on purpose.
He's doing it intentionally, we might say, because he doesn't want to talk to us.
George says, he's the worst super we've ever had.
He's in charge of the maintenance around this place, but instead he hides out in his apartment.
Maintenance is the work that you need to keep something in good condition or to make sure it doesn't get worse than it is right now.
So in an apartment building, you might need to paint the walls every few years or clean the carpets.
You need to make sure the plumbing is working properly, the heating and or air conditioning is working okay.
All of these things may require maintenance.
You may have to do something to make sure they're working correctly.
George says that the super hides out in his apartment to hide.
H I D E out is a two word phrasal verb, meaning to spend your time where no one else can see you.
It can mean also to be quiet, to remain hidden so that no one can find you.
In this case, the super is hiding out in his apartment.
He's there and he doesn't want anyone to know he's there, perhaps.
George says, whenever there's a problem...
He tells us he's too busy to get to it right away.
If there's a problem, the super says, oh, no, I'm sorry, I'm busy.
I can't do it right now.
I can't get to it, meaning I can't do what I need to do right now for that problem.
George says, too busy doing what?
I'd like to know.
Meaning, what is he doing that makes him so busy?
Luis says, maybe he is overworked.
Overworked means that you have too many things to do at your job.
The boss has given you too much to do.
That's how I feel.
I feel overworked.
Louis says there are 25 units in this building, so it's conceivable he's busy making repairs somewhere.
A unit, U-N-I-T, in this situation means an apartment or a condominium in a large building.
If there are 25 apartments in your building, we'd say there are 25 units.
It's the same thing.
Louis says it's conceivable, meaning it's possible.
It's not likely, but it could be that he's busy making repairs.
He's busy fixing things somewhere else.
George says that's what he's counting on.
That's what he's depending on.
That's what he's relying on.
He's counting on people like you who give him the benefit of the doubt.
The expression to give someone the benefit of the doubt means to assume the most positive thing when you don't have all the information about what is happening, especially when there's a problem or you think there might be a problem.
So you call a plumber to come over and fix something in your bathroom and the plumber doesn't call you and they're late.
They're supposed to be there at 9 o'clock.
It's 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock, still no plumber.
The plumber doesn't come.
The plumber doesn't call.
Now you could get angry saying oh that terrible plumber, he's lazy or he's not a very good business person.
But if you were to give him the benefit of the doubt, you would think of another reason, a better excuse.
Maybe he got into a car accident.
Maybe there was a lot of traffic on the freeway and he forgot his cell phone at home.
Maybe he was appointed ambassador to Zimbabwe and is busy in Washington meeting with the president.
You see, there are all sorts of reasons why the plumber might not come on time.
That's giving someone the benefit of the doubt.
George says all the while meaning.
At this time, while he is saying this same thing, he's drinking coffee, saying and reading the newspaper somewhere.
So he's not really busy.
He's just relaxing somewhere reading the newspaper.
Then George says Mark my words.
The expression mark M-A-R-K.
My words is used to emphasize that what you have just said, what you have just told another person, will come true, to remember that in the future.
Mark my words, the plumber went to a bar and got drunk.
That's what happened.
You're saying that you don't know that probably, but that's sort of your prediction.
You want the person that you're talking to to remember what you're saying.
Louis says, I'll call him again.
Maybe we'll catch him in his apartment.
To catch someone in this case means to find someone before they leave, calling someone before they leave their apartment or before they leave their office.
Catch has a couple of different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some of those.
George, however, says save your energies.
Save your energies.
Or save your energy is an informal phrase used to tell someone not to do something because it won't be necessary or because it won't really help the situation.
Louise says, where are you going and what are you going to do with that baseball bat?
A baseball bat is used in the game of baseball, of course, to hit the ball.
Some people keep baseball bats in their houses as a form of defense, as a weapon to protect themselves, to hit someone who may come in and try to steal something from your house.
It's cheaper and less dangerous than a gun.
Well, George says that he's going to track down the super and bring him back here.
To track, T-R-A-C-K, someone down means to find them, especially if it is difficult to find them.
Perhaps they're hiding or they're lost.
George says, come hell or high water, he's making those repairs today.
The expression come hell or high water is an old one, which means no matter what happens, no matter how difficult the situation is.
I'm going to do this.
Or in this case, I'm going to get the super to come back and fix the problems in the apartment.
No matter what, no matter what happens, come hell or high water.
George, of course, is potentially going to use violence here.
We might have to have another dialogue called getting out of jail or prison after beating someone with a baseball bat.
I hope not.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I'll call him, but I think he's avoiding our calls.
Maybe he is overworked.
There are 25 units in this building, so it's conceivable that he's busy making repairs somewhere.
That's what he's counting on.
People like you who give him the benefit of the doubt.
All the while he's drinking coffee and reading the newspaper somewhere.
Mark my words.
I'll call him again.
Maybe we'll catch him in his apartment.
Save your energies.
Where are you going?
And what are you doing with that baseball bat?
I'm going to track down that super and bring him back here.
Come hell or high water, he's making those repairs today.
You can always count on a good script on ESL Podcast, thanks to our script writer, Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2012 by the Center for Educational Development.
