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Let Go VIP – POV

Hello, this is A. J., welcome to the point-of-view stories for this month. As usual, we’ll tell the same story with several versions. We’ll change the point of view and that’s all grammar really is. It’s just changing a point of view. It’s looking at a situation or telling a story or communicating information from a certain point of view.

It might be from a point of view looking back to the past. Then we use different tenses that are connected to the past. It might be looking at a situation or something to the future and then we might use the future. It might be giving information or telling a story as if it’s happening right now. Maybe it really is happening right now or maybe we’re just seeing the situation as if it’s happening now in our mind. We’re seeing it that way.

That’s why it’s possible to give the same information or tell the same story using several different verb tenses. This is a very common problem and mistake that students have.

They think that there’s only one correct way to say something. This is, unfortunately, because in school when you’re taking tests they taught you there’s one right answer.

So many times people will leave a comment and say “In this story A. J. used the past, but in this other story he used the present. Which one is correct?” Well, they’re both correct, okay? It just depends on how you want to give the information. In my own life sometimes I might tell a story in the present because it has a different emotional feeling.

It feels more exciting sometimes when we use the present, but I might commonly tell something in the past tense because it happened in the past. That’s also common.

They’re both fine. You just have to understand the feeling of that point of view.

So let’s start with our same story and let’s imagine it’s happening in the present. It gives a feeling of a little more excitement because we can imagine we’re with Mr. Chinchilla as it’s happening.

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So Mr. Chinchilla is stingy. He’s a stingy Chinchilla and one day he goes to a restaurant.

The restaurant’s name is Papa’s Crab House and he gets great service and the food is fantastic and after he finishes eating he only leaves a two percent tip. The waitress looks at the tip and she is irate, extremely angry, but Mr. Chinchilla doesn’t realize that she’s angry. He’s totally oblivious.

Well, later on he goes to Chicago to visit his son and they go to a restaurant together and they also have a nice meal with great service and at the end of the meal his son says “Dad, let me pay.” Mr. Chinchilla says “No, no, no, no, son, I insist. I will pay.” And he pays the bill, but once again he only leaves a two percent tip.

Now, because his son lives in the United States he realizes that’s not good and he says “Dad, that’s not enough. Let me leave the tip at least.” But Mr. Chinchilla says “No, no, no, no, I insist. It’s fine.” His son feels embarrassed, but he says nothing. The waiter, however, is furious, extremely angry, but once again Mr. Chinchilla is oblivious.

Well, later he returns to Papa’s Crab House, the same restaurant again and he has the same waitress as he did the first time. This time she scowls at him. She looks angry and frowns at him and she’s very short with him. She speaks in an abrupt way, in a very short unfriendly way with him and Mr. Chinchilla finally realizes something is wrong and he says “Why do you seem so upset?” And the waitress says “Because you stiffed me last time. You only gave me a two percent tip. That’s very rude because I gave you great service.”

And, finally, Mr. Chinchilla realizes oh, no. He realizes he made a mistake and he realizes that in America 15 to 20% is the normal kind of tip and from then on he always tips 15%. He decides that in the future he will always tip at least 15%.

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That’s the end of our first point-of-view story, our first version. Now, when we, when Americans, Canadians, Brits, whatever, hear a story like that in the present it has a little bit more of an exciting feeling sometimes. Sometimes writers will use the present if they want to give that feeling of it’s happening now.

All right, let’s do it again and let’s use the future this time. Again, we don’t normally tell entire stories in the future, but I want you to get used to the future tense and just get used to the sound of it and not think about grammar rules really, just get used to it. So I’ll tell this as if it’s going to happen in the future, like I had a dream about something in the future.

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So in the future there will be a chinchilla and his name will be Mr. Chinchilla and he’s gonna be stingy. (He’s going to be stingy. “Gonna” means going to.) First he’ll go to a restaurant Papa’s Crab House and he’ll get great service. He’ll get great service and he’ll get great food. (Again “ll”, “ll” is will. That “ll” sound.) But after he eats he’s only gonna leave (He’s only going to, gonna) a two percent tip. Hum, the waitress will not be happy. In fact, she’s gonna be irate, but Mr. Chinchilla will be oblivious and he’ll leave.

Next, he’s gonna visit his son in Chicago and they’ll go to a restaurant together. They’ll have a great meal and at the end of the meal his son will say “Dad, let me pay.” But Mr.

Chinchilla will say “No, I insist.” And he’ll pay the bill, but he’ll only leave two percent again as a tip. His son will say “Dad, that’s not enough. Let me leave the tip at least.” Mr. Chinchilla will say “No, no, no, no, it’s fine. It’s fine.” And his son is gonna feel embarrassed and the waiter is gonna be furious, but once again Mr. Chinchilla will be oblivious, totally unaware.

And then he’ll return to Papa’s Crab House later, another day, and he’ll have the same waitress, but this time she’s gonna scowl at him and she’s gonna be very short with him.

Mr. Chinchilla will finally realize that something is wrong. He’ll say “Why do you seem upset?” And she’ll say (She’ll, “ll”, “ll”, “ll”) “Because you stiffed me. You only gave me a two percent tip last time. That’s very rude.” And Mr. Chinchilla will realize his mistake.

He’ll finally realize that he’s been making a mistake and from that point on he’ll always tip at least 15%.

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That’s the end of our second version of the story. Let’s do another version. So this time I’ll do the first person again. We’re going to practice the first person for a few months here. So I’ll pretend I am Mr. Chinchilla and I’m telling my own story and a few things will change a little bit, the feeling of the story changes a little bit. Just listen, that’s all you need to do.

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So, hello, I’m Mr. Chinchilla and I’m a normal chinchilla from South America. I feel that I am not stingy and I feel that I’m not super generous. I am just a normal chinchilla and I’m hungry so I decide to go to a restaurant. I go to my favorite restaurant Papa’s Crab House and I get great service and I have great food and because the service is so good I leave a two percent tip.

You see, in South America it’s normal for chinchillas to only leave a tip if the service is fantastic and when we leave a tip we only leave two percent. So I’m being very generous this time and, of course, I’m totally unaware at this time that the waitress is irate.

Well, next I go and I visit my son in Chicago and we go to a great restaurant and again we have great food and great service and my son says to me “Dad, let me pay.” But, of course, I’m his father so I say “No, no, no, I insist. I will pay. I’m the father. I will pay.” And I pay the bill and because the service is so great I again leave a two percent tip.

I’m being very generous, but my son says to me “Dad, that’s not enough. Let me leave the tip.” And, of course, I’m confused. I don’t understand. What do you mean that’s not enough? In South America if a chinchilla leaves a two percent tip that’s being very generous. That’s plenty. So I say “No, no, no, no, it’s fine.” My son seems embarrassed.

The waiter seems furious, but no I’m sure he’s not. Everything is fine.

Well, later I return to Papa’s Crab House again and I get the same waitress, my favorite waitress, but this time she scowls at me. She’s frowning. She looks unhappy. She even looks angry. She scowls at me and she’s very short with me. When she speaks it’s very short and abrupt and unfriendly. I realize something is wrong so I say to her “Why do you seem so upset?” And she says to me “Because you stiffed me. You only gave me a two percent tip. That’s very rude.”

Ah, well, finally, I realize my mistake. I realize that in America, in the United States, the situation is quite different than my home country. And so I realize that ah, 15% is actually what’s normal in America. So I give her a 15% tip and from now on I will always give a 15% tip.

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Okay, that is the end of our third version of the story. Just listen to these each day for seven to 10 days, more is fine. Just listen, listen, listen, that’s all you need to do. Get used to hearing the different versions. That’s it.

All right, I will see you next time. Have a great day, bye-bye.