Smiling - The Universal Language

While travelling to reach my new job in Queensland, Australia, I stayed in Brisbane for a few days. The corporate head office is there and I needed to cross some t's and dots some i's. The company had made all the arrangements and I was treated like a queen. I knew transport had been arranged and it was with absolute delight that I discover a man in a suit with my name on a nice sign waiting for me at Brisbane Airport.


I had been travelling for the past 24 hours, but tried to keep up with the small talk. The man was in his late fifties and had a few stories to tell. One being the book he was working on. The ride into Brisbane was great and he answered all my questions and showed me some of the tourist spots as we drove. When I had to get back to the airport, Lady Luck intervened and it was the same smiling man who picked me up from the hotel. Since, I'd mentioned I was a geologist, he was ready this time with a joke (petroleum geologists and lightbulbs :-) and the following printed out:

Top Ten Signs You Might Be A Geologist:

10. You have ever had to respond "yes" to the question, "What have you got in here, rocks?"

9. You have ever taken a 22-passenger van over "roads" that were really intended only for cattle

8. You have ever found yourself trying to explain to airport security that a rock hammer isn't really a weapon

7. Your rock garden is located inside your house

6. You have ever hung a picture using a Brunton compass as a level and your rock hammer as your hammer

5. Your collection of beer cans and/or bottles rivals the size of your rock collection

4. You consider a "recent event" to be anything that has happened in the last hundred thousand years

3. Your photos include people only for scale and you have more pictures of your rock hammer and lens cap than of your family

2. You have ever been on a field trip that included scheduled stops at a gravel pit and/or a liquor store

And the #1 sign you might be a geologist:

1. You have ever uttered the phrase, "Have you tried licking it?" with no sexual connotations involved

The fact that he took the effort to bring me this was astounding. I've found that this kind of friendliness is part of most Australians. People aren't afraid to help - you just need to smile and ask :-D.