Mean or Funny?

It's always interesting to get a completely different opinion from the exact same situation. How can one person see it one way while another sees it completely differently? It comes down to individual perceptions and history, in my opinion.

Take my guide in Moscow, a woman who was on her third career since she retired from her original career. Good for her, I guess, but not so good for those of us who have to sit down and listen to the merits of socialism. Was she old? Damn right, she was old. Is poking fun at her age, her cigarette habit and her quirks evil or not right? Not in my world. In other words, get over it.

In our politically correct world I do the opposite. Why? Because I laugh at the absurdity of a situation that I'm propelled into. Case in point: the woman from Moscow lecturing me about American diet habits, that include hamburgers and soda, when she's pulling on her 75th cigarette of the day!

"It's going to kill you," she states, just as she inhales...

...and that's just one small example. I see and write about situations just like this elderly woman in Moscow. If that offends you, steer clear of Travel Unscripted.