"Know your Scots"

Tell us about the funniest thing that happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Include your full mailing address. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged. 

This month’s winner is RICHARD TAYLOR of Natchitoches, Louisiana:

With only four of us in the rail carriage returning from the Kyle of Lochalsh, we fell into conversation with the young conductor, who very carefully made sure we knew he was from Inverness. 

In the talk, I told the lad that I had always understood Scots to be a dour, withdrawn lot and a bit unfriendly but that on this visit I had found Scots to be pleasant, open, friendly and helpful, with a good sense of humor.

His immediate reply — “A couple of days in Aberdeen will dispel THAT illusion!”