Teary-Eyed Tourist
It’s windy at the top of a light house, about 100 feet up. And wind makes my eyes water pretty quickly (if I sit at the front of a roller coaster, I come off the ride looking like I have just experienced an emotional breakthrough).
The tour guide was standing next to me.
“The wind makes me cry,” I say, as an explanation for the waterworks.
“Yeah,” she says laughing, then quickly hides the smile and adds, “it really is a beautiful view.”
Wait … crap.
At that point I’m convinced all she heard me say was cry, and she thinks I’m crying because of the view. She thought I was joking at first, then noticed the tears, and wow, we’ve got a real emotional fella over here.
I mention, casually, about three times over the course of the next five minutes, how windy conditions make my eyes water. I can’t mention it enough. And I realize, my over-the-top casual mentions of this have probably confirmed to her that I cry when I see pretty views.
If you visit Australia, and a stereotype for Americans is that we cry at pretty views … well, now you’ll know where it came from.
