One of Dell’s acquisitions was based in Israel, with which my development center was integrating our storage solution. Their technical leaders flew to Minnesota for a week of meetings, typical in pre-pandemic days.
During a break we asked about their route, each slightly different but all going through Europe and taking about 24 hours. I said that on my trips to India (Dell has a development center in Bangalore), if possible, a quick shower makes the next flight much more pleasant. I mentioned how it’s not possible when going through Paris, but Frankfurt and Munich have great facilities.
Then the single woman attending stated, with a straight face and with all solemnity:
We don’t take showers in Germany.
I start thinking: Oh shit. Did I just insult them? Am I that truly that clueless? Did I just torpedo the meeting. This is not good….
And then, with a gleam in her eye, she smiles with a Gotcha! look. The first time she smiled the entire day, otherwise seemingly serious, direct, and humorless. And then this. Wow.
I was had, but you have to admit totally classic, never to be forgotten.
Image Credits
- “Shower” by kevin dooley is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
