I spent part of Easter in a Scottish spa [View all]

While in the jacuzzi three Scottish guys, hearing my accent, asked me how long I’d be travelling for. I said we were away until T passed on, at least. Their attitude toward T was the same as everyone else’s in the UK, except for the visiting American oil and gas guys. They tend to say, “It is what it is.” Profound.

I apologized for T’s Easter outburst and said that his profanities and lack of decorum this a.m. were embarrassing. One of the guys told me he didn’t have an issue with swearing per se, but…

I said, “Then you’d have no problem in the US. ‘What the fuck’ is our national motto. And btw,
‘GO SCOTLAND’ for the World Cup!”

The Scots are salt-of-the-earth easy going, but they’re curious about our views; there aren’t many Americans around here. We don’t want T to drive the discussion, but he can be an ice breaker so no one has to ask where we stand.

Yesterday I heard a guy at the Morrisons coffee shop speaking the ancient language of Doric. I invited myself into that discussion because I’m always excited about remote languages and know the Doric word “dreich,” which means “dreary.” (It was raining.)

Once you get into a discussion with a Scotsman, you’re in it for at least 30 min….the friendliest people on the planet, can’t relate to T or his particular culture at all, and always provide the makings for a National Geographic moment. A fun discussion ensued, drifting to the old Jimmy Stewart movies.

We try to make up the difference for the American image T is perpetuating stateside by creating connections on our travels. Our bp has been quite low on this trip, learning about others’ cultures rather than threatening to bomb them into oblivion.

Anyway, Happy Easter!