Beryl<BR>Your tone was very pleasant also...Please read Katherine's post again, you will notice that she was speaking French because the men did not speak English. This would mean that they had no idea what the lady said! Think about it....The whole situation is not one to be proud of.

I cannot believe this, actually I can. I think this is funny.I read Katherine's post and I thought it was a riot. By the way I do wish she would return and tell us what she said to the lady. It is amazing, now we have mind readers on the Fodor board who just seem to know what she said. Im with Laura, what a bunch of self-righteous people on this board. Laura great story also. I would post mine here but will post mine as some of my other more favourite sites.

cd, You're right, Katherine says the Frenchmen did not speak English. That does put a different slant on the incident, making the remark seem more gratuitous. But I admit I might've been tempted to do it myself. Some people bring out a wicked streak in me.

Emily and Beryl, thanks for the reasonable tone.<BR><BR>When we feel our friends are under attack, we often feel obliged to defend them. I understand this is what Katherine was trying to do. However, when we separate people's silly ideas from the people themselves, I think we are more likely to defuse the situation. We could, for example, spoof the ladies IDEAS, by saying but oh, ladies, what now shall I do with my frequent flier points on Lufthansa? That is a German airline, and I don't speak German (or Japan airlines, or Scandinavian, or whatever.)She might have then succeeded in getting the ladies themselves to see the silliness of their idea, without attacking them directly.<BR><BR>Yet if one thought that the two elderly ladies were making - or trying to make - a joke, this would put a whole different spin on the situation. We'd be laughing with the ladies, rather than embarrassed or even angered by their behavior. <BR><BR>Suppose one reacted by gently teasing the ladies on what they had said. Oh, ladies, what now shall I do with all my Lufthansa frequent flier points? For as you know, that is a German airline, and I can't speak German. <BR>

My funniest (and sadly American) candidate:<BR><BR>I was sitting on a balcony at Hotel Loucas in Santorini (Greek island) looking out from the caldera when a young man from Austin Texas, who had the room next door, commented that the view was similar to areas near Austin at the restaurants overlooking lakes. Sad, very sad.<BR>Martha<BR>

Sorry, pushed 'post reply' instead of deleting repeat of last line, but you get the idea. <BR>Anyway, Katherine, if you're still around, cheer up. All of us are learning something here.

Jane, I agree, if we could manage to be patient, kind, and clever as well, when confronted with such things, it would be the best of all possible worlds.

And what did the French gentlemen think of the oh so clever Katherines remark? How much class she had? How oh so funny she was insulting a fellow American? and How exactly did Katherine know what state this woman was from? Because of the way she was dressed? Puhleeze, the old lady was rude, Katherine was rude back, that is the story!

I forgot to say that I am an all white male and I also hate Jews.

No asshole I do not hate Jewish people...only people like you who say ugly-bigoted things and hide behind someone else...

Has crackers been drinking or did I miss something?

No cd- "crackers" has not been drinking...someone thought it would be funny to post a bigoted reply using "crackers" name..seems that the nickname my friends have given me since I moved south from boston has turned against me here on these boards..some think cracker automatically makes a person a sterotypical bigot..there are some real morons around here lately and this is just one of many.

Crackers are very tasty. even if persons dunk them in soup and make them soggy. yumyum

TOPPING!

Ok, here are a couple:<BR><BR>Two young guys met at a roadside in New Hampshire asked me: how early in the morning did they have to leave Toronto to get to Vancouver the same day by car?<BR><BR>When I first arrived in El Salvador to work for a year, I had to go out and buy a fridge. My Spanish was minimal at the time, but I did understand a sign which advertized a tabletop stove as a bonus that came with the purchase of a fridge. I negotiated the sale and delivery of both in my beginner Spanish.<BR><BR>The next day, I proudly described how I did this to my Spanish tutor. She laughed and laughed, showing far less composure than the sales lady did. Turns out that the way I was pronouncing the tabletop stove was that I, in fact, had negotiated to have a small, female piglet sold & delivered with my fridge.<BR><BR>Another time, brought along as a guest to a small village fair, I was asked to draw the name of the winner of a prize. I (again proudly) announced the name of the woman who had won my male cousin as the prize ("primo", instead of "premio" for prize). The ladies had a hoot.

My wonderful French husband and I went to Legal Sea Foods in Boston. I gave him the wine list and suggested we order a California wine to go with the fish. He said, "Oh we've had lots of California wine in California. I would like to try the local wine now that we're in Massachusetts". <BR><BR>Just last week on the Paris metro I overheard an American couple trying to discipher one of the ads. "Well, I do know that word "derriere"; that means "butt"<BR>(it means "behind")

And what, may I ask, is so funny about Massachusetts wines? Here's a site that lists 15 wineries in MA.<BR><BR>http://wine.about.com/library/wineries/bl_ma.htm

My husband, son and I are able to speak French passably well and get a kick out of hearing other peoples' attempts. <BR> On the beach in St.Martin:"We ate in one of those quaint brasseres (brasseries) last night. It was called the Poison Door. (Poisson D'Or)<BR><BR> Two of my favourites from Paris: "We're trying to find one of those "sortays" " (sorties/exit)<BR> Walking along the Rue de Rivoli on a glorious sunny fall day, the sun just glints off a beautiful statue of a young woman on horseback. Behind me I hear "Oh, look at the stachew...I wonder who it is...oh, it says "Jeannie Dark...I wonder if she's a sister of Joan"

Related to me by a friend, who overheard in the Roman Forum: "Jesus Christ, more g*dd*amn broken bricks!"

my aunt and uncle are the funniest travalers I know, everytime they go somewhere they allways come back with some wacked out stuff on tape.. on their trip to singapore my uncle ended up dancing with a gorgious travsexual who later ran and jumped on his back while all the singaporiean where dancing salsa...and reasently they came back from China and somehow they got about 50 chinees and some Cubans in a park too dance the congo line while a old Chineese lady sange traditional songs..