Is “she wants” better? It’s fine as it is. The cashier is confirming, not asking.
Is “a wrong button” better? No. Either is okay,but it is better as it is.
Is “exempt” all right? It’s perfect… to be exempt from a charge means to be free from having to pay it.
Is “this time” better? Very much so.
Is “by cash” better? Either is fine.
Is “some people” better? Either is okay, but I think ‘guests’ would be better than ‘people’ here.
Is “from” better here?
It’s okay as it is. They are staying ‘in’ the rooms.
Is “some time” better? ‘Give me a second’ is a common expression. It does not literally indicate a one second period of time. It demonstrates good command of informal language for Saito to use it here.
Dialogue 2 Check out
Cashier: This guest’s bill comes to $32.37.
Saito: She only has $30 left in cash, so she’d like to pay the rest in yen.
Cashier: She’ll pay the remaining $2.37 in Japanese yen, right?
Saito: Right. But she’s only got a 10,000 bill. We have to leave now, so if you could hurry we would very much appreciate it.
Cashier: Sure. However, if she pays with a 10,000 bill, her change will be in US dollars. It would be faster to pay with a credit card.
(Saito asks the guest if she’d prefer to pay by credit card)
Saito: All right, she’ll pay by credit card.
Cashier: Very good. I will try to do it as quickly as possible.
(Saito looks through the bill again)
Saito: Wait a moment, please. What is this $12 for?
Cashier: This is the charge for the pay-TV she seems to have watched last night.
Saito: (Checks with the guest) I asked her about pay-TV, but she said she didn’t watch it.
Cashier: But this machine shows that she did.
Saito: She said she had pushed the wrong button and mistakenly turned it on for only a few seconds.
(The cashier goes to the manager to ask if the guest should be exempt from the charge)
Cashier: Thank you for waiting. Actually our guest pushed twice the acknowledge button for pay-TV twice. However, as she said it was a mistake, we’d likebe happy to exceptionally make an exception to our usual rules and exempt her from the charge for this time. So, it comes to $20.37 after subtracting the pay-TV charge. Please tell me again whether she’d like to pay in cash or by credit card.
Saito: (Checks with her) In cash, please.
Cashier: All right. Then please sign your name here (on the bill).
Saito: (Signs the bill and gives it with the cash to the cashier) Here you are. * Why is Saito signing? It should be the guest, if the guest was paying!
Cashier: Here are the change and the receipt. Thank you for staying with us. Bon voyage!
Saito: Thank you, but I am afraid there are still guestsof in our group who haven’t checked out yet.
Cashier: Just a moment, please. Let me check it out.
(After checking) The guests in rooms 435, 486, and 499 haven’t checked out. Also, the telephone bill for room 486 hasn’t been paid yet.
Saito: I see. Please give me a second. I’ll run up and find them.
Cashier: Sure.
Oh yes, it is the guest who should sign the bill but not Saito who is the interpreter then. Thank you very much, Beeesneees. Everything is so clear to me now with this dialogue.
Thank you very much Beeesneees. I talked with my boss several times about the verbosity and redundancy throughout the text, only to find they were reluctant to “cut off what they loved” as they said :), but agreed to let me do it “to a certain extent” after I had told them that’s what all the native teachers pointed out.
