Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Drama on the High Seas

The captain of the Oceana had enough. "We don't want that kind of Germanic behavior," Christopher Wells joked to his mostly British passengers about the squabbling over deck chairs on his cruise ship. In today's politically über-correct days, such staples of British humor are verboten. Mr. Wells now stands accused of racism.


The two-week Caribbean cruise almost ended in a brawl last month. Some holidaymakers infuriated other guests by using towels to reserve deck chairs, otherwise empty, for hours. Such behavior is, in the British holiday imagination, firmly associated with Germans, who are reputed (fairly or not) to have pioneered this use of the towel to hog prime suntanning spots.

Read the rest of the story of deck chairs and stereotypes.

No comments: