hitchhiker  +  23719 Thu, 26 Feb 04 11:56 PM Wahayy! - A most educating and informative post – I hope you decide to stay and debate further topics here. Chameleon - Has Blingish satisfied your curiosity? hitchhiker Joined on Mon, Nov 18 2002 Richmond, UK Senior Member 4,036 Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea - massive, difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind-boggling amounts of excrement...

	Chameleon  +  23721 Fri, 27 Feb 04 12:01 AM Thank you Bilingish. You make some very good points. I'm glad someone is willing to discuss the answer and not the question. Maybe I just had unfortunate exposure to some inconsiderate tourists. Regardless of why they acted this way, I think it's important to take away one point: When you are abroad, you are a diplomat. If you want your country to be regarded favorably by natives, you have to act as you wish to be percieved. This is not always a matter of studying local rules and social norms. Some common sense can be employed to avoid a lot of negative perception. I think it's been adequately demonstrated that my original assumptions in making this assertion were flawed. Nevertheless, bad behavior is bad behavior, whether you are aware of it or not. Chameleon Joined on Wed, Feb 18 2004 Full Member 174 Negatives

	hitchhiker  +  23723 Fri, 27 Feb 04 12:07 AM Elegantly put Chameleon. Debate closed! hitchhiker