The more I study them, the more fascinating they become. I had a sort of Epiphany on holiday, almost by accident. Instead of getting all ranty about the foibles of fellow holiday makers, I somehow managed to compute that maybe it's not an inherent part of their personality. Just a foible.
Eg 1: The woman next to me on the trip to/from Jerusalem* On arrival at the Dead Sea resort and in Eilat, she saw the famous sign and said "Mm, McDonald's" with such desire, relish and grieving it was as if her life depended upon it. Do I judge? no. Doesn't make her a bad person, probably not symbolic of anything. OK, it was an ironic juxtaposition with her later comment "I'm really fussy about what I eat, no fat or gristle"
Eg 2 Chap we shared a table with for New Year. A bit full of himself, and a rather loud voice and irritating voice that carried far whiletal king incesantly about nothing. But actually, a very nice man. And his wife exceptionally nice. So, we have little in common. but nice people.
Eg 3 Chap encountered in bar in Rangers FC t-shirt (generally a warning sign). We chatted about holidays, turns out his wife owns a couple of travel agents. I suspected an hour or two in his company might be too much to bear. But he was asking my opinion about things, and we had an amazingly intelligent conversation, where I was confidently expressing my opinions and he was listening and processing. And we agreed about certain things - not least the crapness JMC (spawn of Satan) reps that, on arrival in holiday destination at 10 pm , direct you to the lovely English bar/restaurant five minutes to the right that might still be open if you're quick, without mentioning the exceptionally lovely and incredibly cheap Spanish restaurant two minutes to the left that will definitely be open well into the night. He said he had found English run bars in Spain charging twice the price for the same beer as nearby Spanish-owned bars. And we agreed that local food is generally cheaper and better quality than that laid on for the Brits in the Brit owned Brit themed pubs.
Eg 4 On the same subject, when I said the drawback of a Taba All-Inclusive is the inability to go and wander round the town and find a small, but perfectly formed local restaurant, and the weird over-fussy woman who said "But that means taking your purse out with you..." I suppose I just felt sorry for what she is missing out on, due to misplaced fear.
* inadvertent mention of pub name there!
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