Montreal is a very multicultural city, and attracts tourists from the world over. Sometimes, they wander in to pharmacies, and marvel at the items that may or may not actually be available in their home country. Or, sometimes, they end up looking at products that have them extremely confused.
While at work one day, a woman with a strong French-from-France accent (their accent is very different from the Quebec French accent, so it is important to note) comes over to me, waving a bottle of castor oil and shouting in French, "What is this product made of?" The look on her face was one of complete confusion and more-than-minimal distress, the kind of look one sees on the face of someone when they're about to shit their pants and know they cannot stop it.
I've never seen such a passionate response to castor oil. This must really be a life-or-death situation! I could imagine doctors in a hospital, trying to resuscitate someone, yelling out, "We need 5 cc's of castor oil! STAT!" Since I don't know the answer off the top of my head, I turn to my good friend Wikipedia to find out what castor oil is made of.
"It's made from castor beans." I respond, in hopes that this is all that she needs to know before rushing off to save the day for someone else.
"Are you sure? Check again!" she screams. She looks horrified, as though the castor oil has transformed itself into Freddy Krueger and will slaughter her in her sleep. Wow, this castor oil must mean a lot to someone. Out there in the world, someone is in dire need of this product. So I check another website, that assures me that castor oil is indeed composed of castor beans. I break the news to the woman, who then shouts in such an overblown way that it would put Vincent Price's overly hammy acting to shame,
"What is this used for?"
Castor oil has many uses, including weight loss, constipation, a laxative, and to help regrow hair. I can't quite see why this is so important, but the woman looks so distraught, so it must really be a lifesaver somehow. Maybe someone out there is just really, really constipated?
The client looks a bit more relaxed, now that she knows the uses for castor oil and that it is made of castor beans. She can now assuredly administrate the oil to someone in need, thereby saving them from a life of constipation and hair loss.
The woman walks down the aisle, and to my complete amazement, puts the castor oil back on the shelf and walks out of the store.
I can't believe it! What is her constipated friend going to do now? What happened to the life or death situation? Now I'm the confused one, who can't understand why someone would look so distraught over the contents of castor oil. I'm ready to chalk that one up to the woman being completely insane when it dawns on me.
The language barrier in Quebec goes both ways, especially in Montreal. French people can't understand what is written in English, and vice versa. The revelation hits me, and puts all of the pieces of that conversation into place.
In English, the word "castor" refers to the bean. In French, the word "castor" is used for something entirely different. "Castor" in French means "beaver." Therefore, the woman wasn't looking to save someone's life, she was simply horrified at the idea that this oil could have been made from beavers. The image of the woman thinking that this castor oil is made from mashed-up beavers, and how horrified and distressed she was at the idea, is an image that I will remember forever.
You can find some strange things in pharmacies, but I am pretty sure that mashed-up beaver oil isn't one of them. At least, I sincerely hope not!
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