Tweet of the Week #69: How a Delivery Mistake Lead to a Dramatic Gyudon Incident

When you’re too washed-up from work to cook anything (anything tasty at least), food delivery services, 出前（でまえ） in Japanese, are life-savers. Well, except when you’re too tired to realize whatcha doin’.

Food, now, onegaishimasu

Good news for all you lazy foodies! You’ll never run out of dining options in Japan, for 出前 services, also called 宅配（たくはい） or デリバリー are legion.

When most restaurants and fast-food joints don’t have their own delivery men, they’re mostly registered with well-known delivery services platforms such as demae-can, Rakuten delivery, and Uber Eats.

You don’t even have to pick-up the phone anymore or speak Japanese (but you should). You can order your favorite comfort food from your couch while bingeing the latest Terrace House on Netflix and having it delivered to your front door.

Your only job, aside from paying ¥¥¥¥, is to check that the delivered food is indeed the food you ordered.

Washed-out gyudon

Wear, wash, dry, fold, wear. Repeat.

Laundry is one of the least fun house chores there is. And if we could, we’d send everything straight to the dry-cleaning. That’s probably what @sauntm will do from now on unless he managed to save his washing-machine after a terrible, terrible gyudon incident.

あの、本当に意味がわからないんですけど、牛丼洗濯しちゃって洗濯機の中が悲惨なことになってる。 pic.twitter.com/lxsbd3eVfK

— なつめ (@sauntm) February 15, 2020

あの、本当（ほんとう）に意味（いみ）がわからないんですけど、牛丼（ぎゅうどん）洗濯（せんたく）しちゃって洗濯機（にせんたくき）の中（なか）が悲惨（ひさん）なことになってる。

= Erm, I don’t really understand but, somehow I washed my gyudon with my laundry and the inside of my washing machine tragically turned to this.

FYI gyudon is a bowl of rice topped with beef which goes back to the late 1800s. Offering a lot of topping variations, this dish is the best friend of salarymen and students looking to eat quick and cheap.

But definitely not washing-machine friendly.

Oh god, why?

Turns out, the gyudon delivery wasn’t even part of @sauntm’s dinner plan.

牛丼洗濯事件の経緯。
昨日朝インターホンの音で起きて宅配物を受けとり洗濯機の上に置いた→何か確認せず二度寝→起きてから受け取ったのは松屋のお新香セットだったことに気づく→頼んでないしお新香しか入ってないの変だなと思いながらお新香だけ食べた→洗濯→今ココ

— なつめ (@sauntm) February 15, 2020

牛丼洗濯事件（じけん）の経緯（いきさつ）。

昨日（きのう）朝（あさ）インターホンの音（おと）で起（お）きて宅配物（たきはいもの）を受（う）けとり洗濯機の上（うえ）に置（お）いた→何（なに）か確認（かくにん）せず二度寝（にどね）→起きてから受け取（と）ったのは松山（まつやま）のお新香（しんこ）セットだったことに気（き）づく→頼（たの）んでないしお新香しか入ってないの変（へん）だなと思（おも）いながらお新香だけ食（た）べた→洗濯→今（いま）ココ

= Circumstances of the washed gyudon incident

Yesterday morning, I was woken by the sound of the intercom, received delivery and left it on the top of my washing machine. Somehow, I went back to sleep without checking. When I woke up, I realized I received Matusya’s pickled vegetable set. I ate it while wondering how strange it was that there were only pickled vegetables and I didn’t order it. Did my laundry. Now.

uber eatsの配達員さんがたぶん間違って届けちゃって、さらに私がそれを受け取ってしまったせいで、お新香セットが届かなかった誰かがいるんだよね。ごめんなさい。これはuberに連絡するべきかな。

— なつめ (@sauntm) February 15, 2020

uber eatsの配達員（はいたついん）さんがたぶん間違（まちが）って届（とど）けちゃって、さらに私（わたし）がそれを受け取ってしまったせいで、お新香セットが届かなかった誰（だれ）かがいるんだよね。ごめんなさい。これはuberに連絡（れんらく）するべきかな。

= I guess someone didn’t receive their pickled vegetable set because, on top of the UberEats delivery guy delivering it by mistake, I accepted the delivery. I’m sorry. I must contact Uber.

Two things to learn from this story: always double-check your delivery and avoid leaving it near your washing machine!

Food binge while binging Netflix

ながら is a useful N4 suffix to know in order to express that one action is taking place in conjunction with another action. Ever heard you shouldn’t look at your phone while walking because it’s dangerous…?

“歩（ある）きながら”“自転車（じてんしゃ）に乗（の）りながら”などの歩きスマホ等（とう）に係（かか）る事故（じこ）により、２０１人（にひゃくいちにん）が救急（きゅうきゅう）搬送（はんそう）されています。

“201 people have been transported to the hospital after accidents involving looking at their phone while walking or riding a bicycle.”

ながら translates “while”, “during” or “as”. You’ll conjugate the verb to its ~ます form and attach ながら to the verb’s stem: 歩く(to walk) – 歩きます (I walk) – 歩きながら (while walking).

Be mindful that the main verb ends the sentence. Although it doesn’t change the sentence’s meaning much, it does bring a nuance on the action you’re focusing on.

スマホを見（み）ながら、歩きます。= Walking while looking at my phone.

歩きながら、スマホを見ます。= Looking at my phone while walking.

Vocabulary

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