Nov 23, 2009
RAY: This just came across my desk, it's from May of 2001. This was from my spies and imposters series and it was sent in by John Filiburt. He writes:
"I had just arrived in Germany for my tour of duty with the Army and I was interested in immersing myself in the local culture. I didn't want to stick out as the typical American GI, so I set out to try to blend in with the locals as much as I could. My first weekend there I bought European label clothes. I went to a European barber to get a European haircut that would still comply with the military standards and I bought European style shoes. And I, in every way possible, toned down my behavior so as to appear non-American.
"Now I already knew French and within a few weeks I had learned about as much German as I could. I even shopped at the German marketplace and ate German food. And to make matters even more in my favor, I had blonde hair and blue eyes from my Irish/Scottish heritage and I figured that would really help me blend in.
"But it was at the marketplace that my failure to blend in became apparent. I stood at a crosswalk waiting for the light to change. I had a pair of grocery sacks in hand when a German gentleman walked up and stood beside me, also to wait for the light. I glanced over and gave him a friendly nod. No more. No words were exchanged. His reply was, 'Hi, soldier.''
The question is, how did he know?
"I had just arrived in Germany for my tour of duty with the Army and I was interested in immersing myself in the local culture. I didn't want to stick out as the typical American GI, so I set out to try to blend in with the locals as much as I could. My first weekend there I bought European label clothes. I went to a European barber to get a European haircut that would still comply with the military standards and I bought European style shoes. And I, in every way possible, toned down my behavior so as to appear non-American.
"Now I already knew French and within a few weeks I had learned about as much German as I could. I even shopped at the German marketplace and ate German food. And to make matters even more in my favor, I had blonde hair and blue eyes from my Irish/Scottish heritage and I figured that would really help me blend in.
"But it was at the marketplace that my failure to blend in became apparent. I stood at a crosswalk waiting for the light to change. I had a pair of grocery sacks in hand when a German gentleman walked up and stood beside me, also to wait for the light. I glanced over and gave him a friendly nod. No more. No words were exchanged. His reply was, 'Hi, soldier.''
The question is, how did he know?
Answer:
RAY: Here's the answer. What gave our GI away was that he was carrying two grocery bags in one hand. Now it doesn't take a soldier very long to figure out that if he's carrying anything like grocery bags for example, he'd do well to carry them in one hand, the left hand. Why?
TOM: So he could salute.
RAY: Exactly right. If you're in uniform and you're outdoors you just might have to render to a salute to an officer coming your way.
So that right hand had better be free from any encumbrances like a bag full of groceries. So who's our winner this week?
TOM: The winner this week is Edward B. Kennedy from Helsinki, Finland.
RAY: Really.
TOM: And for having his answer selected at random from among all the correct answers we got, Edward is going to get a $26 gift certificate to the Shameless Commerce Division at cartalk.com, where he can get a lovely ash gray Dewey, Cheatham and Howe T-shirt featuring an exact replica of our window in Harvard Square.
RAY: Congratulations, Edward!
TOM: So he could salute.
RAY: Exactly right. If you're in uniform and you're outdoors you just might have to render to a salute to an officer coming your way.
So that right hand had better be free from any encumbrances like a bag full of groceries. So who's our winner this week?
TOM: The winner this week is Edward B. Kennedy from Helsinki, Finland.
RAY: Really.
TOM: And for having his answer selected at random from among all the correct answers we got, Edward is going to get a $26 gift certificate to the Shameless Commerce Division at cartalk.com, where he can get a lovely ash gray Dewey, Cheatham and Howe T-shirt featuring an exact replica of our window in Harvard Square.
RAY: Congratulations, Edward!
