Killing Time
Not me, but a teacher of mine
Teacher, who spoke both fluent French and fluent German, was on a horse drawn tour of a city, sitting in the center row of the carriage.
A French couple sat in the rear row, and a German couple with small children sat in the front.
The children were tired and cold and making a small fuss, but nothing outrageous.
The French couple started insulting the parents and children in French, snidely. The German family didn’t speak French and had no idea what was going on, trying to soothe their children and enjoy the ride.
Teacher scolds the French couple in French, saying something along the lines of “if you two bitter people ever manage to hold this relationship together, you’ll likely be in the same situation one day. Show some decorum.”
Teacher then turned to German couple and, in German, reiterated what the French were saying about them and what he said in return.
The German couple asked him to convey their apologies; their hotel room wasn’t ready and the children hadn’t eaten yet, and they were killing time until they could check in. That they were sorry for disrupting their evening.
Teacher did. French couple looked embarrassed. Teacher spent the rest of the evening visiting with the German family in German.