International Incident!
Posted in European Travel | By Shelley Gillespie | Tags: Germany, Humor, International
While living in Germany, I had occasion to rent a furnished corporate apartment. Notice, I said furnished. To me, that meant it was fully equipped. When all I found were two small towels in the closet, I assumed they were for the kitchen. It turned out that they were the towels for our bathing!
Another deficiency was that there was no towel rack or bar to hang towels in the bathroom. With no shower, just a bathtub, we just didn’t know where to put our towels. Our quandary was that we really weren’t supposed to attach things on the wall in the rented apartment.
So, I called Fraulein Berger, the concierge for rentals. In the nicest possible way, I requested a handyman to do a few things to fix up the apartment. She agreed.
On the day the handyman came, my friend Pam was visiting, so I have a witness who will swear to what ensued.
Despite using my German-English dictionary, we just couldn’t get the handyman to understand what I was seeking in the bathroom. A simple towel bar seemed to be beyond understanding.
Ah ha! Pantomime – that would do it! So, I led the little grandfather-like bald-headed man into the bathroom to show him what was required. He still did not understand. Still fully clothed, I jumped into the tub, shivered and reached out for my non-existent towel – but none around. I truly felt my pantomime exhibition was masterful and would make our need clear.
No, to the handyman, my demonstration was frightening! A look of terror came over his face. He screamed in fear. He ran out of the room. My friend and I never saw him again.
We laughed – a lot! I later decided to perch our towels on the edge of the sink, which did require a moment of shivering before you could reach them from the tub.
I hope I didn’t give the man a heart attack!
International relations and customs can be very perplexing.
Tags: Germany, Humor, International