Today I moved west, into Western Massachusetts and then New York. I’m making a road trip to Watkins Glen and the Finger Lakes, where I’ll be for the next few days. Away from the conservative East Coast I expect people to be less politically correct.  En route,  I stopped at a Turnpike Reststop and chatted it up with a busload of Chinese tourists who were trying to order food at the McDonalds.

Well, I didn’t really chat it up since none of them spoke English, but I acted as interpreter.  They were all  trying so hard to get chicken nuggets and hamburgers.The women who worked for McDonalds, who were taking the orders, kept asking (and speaking louder each time they asked):  “What do you want?”  “Can you speak English?”  What I did was get pictures of the food on my cell phone, so they could point and then used finger to count how many.  Who knows who thought  what in that double entendre situation: a English-speaking woman in Middle Eastern garment helping Chinese tourists talk to American workers at a roadside McDonalds!

When I went to the  ladies room, a bunch of women stared at me after exiting the stall and  while I was washing my hands. On the way out I decided to add a bit of drama so I stood in front of a big mirror, put on lipstick and fluffed my veil a bit …. which might have been unexpected behavior from a woman in abaya. I figured it was for the common good to let everyone see a very human, female activity: wanting to look good.