The Swan in Traffic

On my way into the center of Dublin from the airport, there was a traffic jam caused by an unusual occurrence: a swan had decided to sit in the center lane of the road. My Irish bus driver loved it, using the loud speaker to announce to everybody to look to the right, where it lay. It was quite the spectacle, with onlookers gawking at the bird's audacity to choose a busy multi-lane road to rest.

And it hit me: Sometimes, living in a foreign country is a bit like being that swan. You are going about your own business, doing whatever it is you typically do, when all of the sudden people are looking at you like you have thirteen heads. What unknown custom did you break? Did you suffer some awful breach of etiquette, or do people just respond differently here? Are you unknowingly doing something incredibly dangerous?

A short while later, our bus got around the "traffic jam." Right as we were pulling away from the scene, an ambulance arrived (with flashers on) to save the bird. I would have paid good money to witness that removal process, as swans can turn out to be unfriendly at times. And, let's admit it, everything is better with Irish accents.