TexasEscapes.com HOME Welcome to Texas Escapes
A magazine written by Texas
Custom Search
New   |   Texas Towns   |   Ghost Towns   |   Counties   |   Trips   |   Features   |   Columns   |   Architecture   |   Images   |   Archives   |   Site Map

Counties
Texas Counties


Texas Towns
A - Z


The Tsk Factor

The 1,250,000 Peso Misunderstanding
Or
Chocolate Vs Vodka

Salvaged from the overturned desk of Luke Warm

There’s an old joke (with moral overtones) that doesn’t start out with a man walking into a bar. He’s already there and talking to a fetching woman who somehow got there before him.

He asks her if she’d be willing to go back to his apartment for $10,000. “Sure,” she replies. Then he asks “Would you come to my apartment for $10? She indignantly says: “Of course not!” What kind of girl do you think I am?” The man says: “I already know what kind of girl you are – we just haven’t agreed on a price.”

I haven’t thought of that “joke” in years. Until the recent Secret Service story appeared on the front page. It is a wonderful learning experience in communication, local customs, terminology, acceptance of reality and International Relations (of the worst kind). It may even boost sales of Spanish language tapes.

“Hola, Isabel, Tráeme chocolate (sin vodka), por favor.”


The Late singer Nat “King” Cole, who regularly performed in Havana, once recorded an album entirely in Spanish. One of the catchiest of the tunes was: Tomo Chocolate (drink chocolate) quickly followed by the second line of “pago lo que debe” (loosely translated and probably misspelled) as “pay what you owe.” There was Absolut(ely) no mention of vodka.

If the men involved in this story had taken Mr. Cole’s advice (both the beverage and paying part) this incident wouldn’t have happened. If both the self-described “escort” and the SS agent were drinking chocolate, they would’ve probably been able to do the currency exchange in their heads.

The widely ignored party in this scandal is the hotel where the incident took place. It maintains its standards for decency (and insuring the recommendation of the Columbian State Department) by the policy of giving priority wake-up calls to certain overnight guests.

The sign over the front desk reading “The Management asks that all prostitutes (and / or escorts) vacate their rooms by 7:00 a.m. might be enough, but the hotel took the extra step by instituting a 6:30 wake-up call.

The Columbian police, who wisely advised the Americans to “pay what was owed” and (were probably thinking “If you had only been drinking chocolate…”, also kept their balance while walking the cultural tightrope of questionable behavior.

In all farness to the Secret Service, the escort admitted that she didn’t know that the men were travelling with the president (and she knew it even less in English). Therefore, they were, in fact, keeping it a secret.

For an agency called the Secret Service – this “transaction” has been played out in front of “toto el mundo” or (my translation) in front of the whole mundo. The mundo is not amused – or else it is amused very much.

While the Dean of Boys of the SS might not be able to perform a nightly bed check for his little rascals – he could take a page out of the oldest travel guide – (A Chinese tome called The Art of Travel) and always carry a lot of small bills. Or in this case – large ones.


April 19,2012

More Columns



Texas Escapes Online Magazine »   Archive Issues » Home »
TEXAS TOWNS & COUNTIES TEXAS LANDMARKS & IMAGES TEXAS HISTORY & CULTURE TEXAS OUTDOORS MORE
Texas Counties
Texas Towns A-Z
Texas Ghost Towns

TEXAS REGIONS:
Central Texas North
Central Texas South
Texas Gulf Coast
Texas Panhandle
Texas Hill Country
East Texas
South Texas
West Texas

Courthouses
Jails
Churches
Schoolhouses
Bridges
Theaters
Depots
Rooms with a Past
Monuments
Statues

Gas Stations
Post Offices
Museums
Water Towers
Grain Elevators
Cotton Gins
Lodges
Stores
Banks

Vintage Photos
Historic Trees
Cemeteries
Old Neon
Ghost Signs
Signs
Murals
Gargoyles
Pitted Dates
Cornerstones
Then & Now

Columns: History/Opinion
Texas History
Small Town Sagas
Black History
WWII
Texas Centennial
Ghosts
People
Animals
Food
Music
Art

Books
Cotton
Texas Railroads

Texas Trips
Texas Drives
Texas State Parks
Texas Rivers
Texas Lakes
Texas Forts
Texas Trails
Texas Maps
USA
MEXICO
HOTELS

Site Map
About Us
Privacy Statement
Disclaimer
Contributors
Staff
Contact Us

 
Website Content Copyright Texas Escapes LLC. All Rights Reserved