Lola at the Coffee House

WOW, Frank! Beautiful. (Said with my best baby boomer/flower child enthusiasm). I would love to see the foxies. Yes, the cafe is convenient on a day like this.

I could help too.

This is true spendi.

There you have it. Our new friend Ice Demon seems to understand.

Now for breakfast and coffee. Wassau, how are you today? Oh good, the newspapers are so plentiful around here. Umm, nice fire in the fireplance on a snowy day in NYC.

Does Wassau have any soup on the go?

Winter squash soup. Yummy.

Wassau, I'd like another cup of Seattle Best Dark & Intense, please. Oh, and some molasses pecan cookies if there are any left.

Yum, osso. Can I have one too?

Hello Lola
came to hear a story and need something warm to go with it. A cappucino please.

That soup was terrific. The yogourt added a nice tang.

What's the punch line?

Hi Saab, Sit down here with me at the table by the window. It's my favorite table. We can see the snow from here. Wassau, bring my friend Saab a cup of coffee and winter squash soup with yogurt?......does that sound good, Saab?

Here's the story. My husband and I were in Stockholm and decided to go on a "cultural tour" of the city. We went on a bus to see a school, a young couple's apartment, and retired person's apartment, etc. As some point the tour guide make a joke/point. She said, "Here in Sweden, we can't understand the American problem with racial prejudice. But, oh those damn gypsys!" The point was well taken and her timing on the joke was excellent. She got a big laugh.

that must have been a very impolite guide who should not have had that job. I would say she is a rude person. You do not make racial jokes in a tourist bus - you never know who is there.
Years ago we used the expression zigenare (gypsies) but now the majority would say romas.
I know that gypsies are not really trusted at a gas station or in certain stores. As as rule they do not dress as gypsies any more.
I don´t even think I could tell if a person is a gypsy or some other East European.

It is a very nice cafe you have. Lovely view from the window.
Please no soup - I really do not care for soups. I enjoy just to sit here just with my cappucino.

Carrots enable you to see in the dark.

It worked at the time. We understood it as anti-racial. But a person probably had to be there to get the delivery and body language. You're welcome here in the cafe, enjoy the view.

Sardonic or nervous?

It sounds a wow of a cultural tour Lola. Were you on wages?

The way I understood it, Lola, from your story, the tour guide was using irony. After saying that there is no racial prejudice in Sweden, she deliberately makes a racist remark. Amusing, I should think, rather than serious.

It worked in exactly that way. It's hard to convey that in writing, but you've done it, so thanks.

Big, hilarious...............It was actually interesting. You should try it, smarty.

Racial prejudice in the USA derives from the association of black people with slavery and not from skin colour which is an identification mark.

There are two completely different ways of talking about gypsies in the UK. There is Media's way and the pub style. This marked difference is a sign that the liberal intelligentsia has disconnected from the underlying population.

I think that the tour guide was showing an understanding of racial prejudice in the USA. She knew what prejudice felt like and if it had different cause from her prejudice that was merely a cultural manifestation.

There might be a valid cause for widely accepted prejudices. Take Mothers-in-law for example.

And might just help prevent diabetes, if yesterday's newspapers are to be believed!

Hey, was that the punch line?