Short memory

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Readie

Chief Master Sergeant
4,324
87
Apr 15, 2011
Plymouth, England
Ever wonder what happens when you forget history or are nationally arrogant?


JFK'S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when DeGaulle decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaulle said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible.
Rusk responded "Does that include those who are buried here?"





You could have heard a pin drop
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying 'Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?'

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly:

'Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply
Emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day,
They can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?'


You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



A Royal Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, the English learn only English. He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'

Without hesitating, the British Admiral replied,

'Maybe it's because the Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's, South Africans, and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'


You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...

Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on.

"You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked sarcastically.

Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.

"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."

The Englishman said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."

"Impossible. You English always have to show your passports on arrival in France !"

The English senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained,

''Well, when I came ashore at Gold Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to."


You could have heard a pin drop.




























































No
 
You do realize however that this is one of those circulating emails. Good story, but did not really happen.

Edit: some of them are true. Sorry...;)
 
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The last time I was in France was back in the early 70s. You do not overstate French arrogance. However the south of France was totally different. Good stories nonetheless
 
The last time I was in France was back in the early 70s. You do not overstate French arrogance. However the south of France was totally different. Good stories nonetheless

Kind of depends on where you go. I found for the most part those in Normandy were very friendly. On my two trips to Normandy, there were some annoyances, but for the most part they were very polite and cordial. Could be because of the more recent history of Normandy.

Paris on the other hand was very hit or miss. The several times I have been to Paris it was more like an even split. French people from other regions that I have talked to, even agreed that the Parisians were a kind of their own. :lol:

For the most part though, I think France is no different than any other nation. Good and bad people.
 
Njaco is the girl from impanema. :lol:

While I find it convenient to bash on the french, I can also see how 'Mericans are perceived as a rather crude and brutish bunch. Unwilling to take time to immerse themselves in local history, culture and language when abroad. It smacks of arrogance and disrespect. And while not on purpose, that is our culture.

I love stereotypes. Because like humor, they are steeped in reality.
 
You mean like Americans are fat and lazy, Germans are stubborn squareheads, the British are toffee nosed with bad teeth, Certain Swettish individuals are sex starved, the Australians are Kangaroo riding aligator wrestlers, the Canadians are,...Well, they are up to something!, Something like that?
 
You mean like Americans are fat and lazy, Germans are stubborn squareheads, the British are toffee nosed with bad teeth, Certain Swettish individuals are sex starved, the Australians are Kangaroo riding aligator wrestlers, the Canadians are,...Well, they are up to something!, Something like that?

Yeah pretty much. Kinda like guys with full beards wearing a german pickelhaub are likely full snot nuts. Pretty much.
 
I was gonna use the England/Beatles verse but I have been to England.

Geo

EDIT OK, why didn't that pickup the "Reply with Quote" thingy. Hasn't been my day for posts.
 
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Njaco is the girl from impanema. :lol:

While I find it convenient to bash on the french, I can also see how 'Mericans are perceived as a rather crude and brutish bunch. Unwilling to take time to immerse themselves in local history, culture and language when abroad. It smacks of arrogance and disrespect. And while not on purpose, that is our culture.

I love stereotypes. Because like humor, they are steeped in reality.

I agree. I also love to pick on the French. Mostly out of humor.

I also know what you mean about Americans. Having been an American living in Europe, I will admit there have been plenty of times I have been embarrassed by my fellow countrymen and their behavior. Of course most of them were young kids who were in the military away from their parents for the first time. I do however know that the US is just like every other country. You have good and bad and intelligent and ignorant people. Just like every country in the world.

I too love stereotypes though. They are just easy to have fun with.

You mean like Americans are fat and lazy, Germans are stubborn squareheads, the British are toffee nosed with bad teeth, Certain Swettish individuals are sex starved, the Australians are Kangaroo riding aligator wrestlers, the Canadians are,...Well, they are up to something!, Something like that?

You mean we are not fat and lazy? Ever been to the website Funny Pictures at WalMart ?

:lol:

I am screwed as I am a German American. That means I am fat, lazy and stubborn! 1 of those three are true about me. I'll leave which one up to your imagination. Actually I am getting close to a 2nd one of those as well... :lol:
 
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