Rubber stamping exemplified

This item appears on page 56 of the June 2012 issue.

Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.

This month’s winner is NANCI SCHEITHAUER of Santa Fe, NM:

During a lovely cruise through the Greek islands and Turkey I had bought some jewelry and trinkets, mainly on the island of Rhodes. I was flying out of Europe through Nice, France, and was quite anxious to get my VAT (value-added tax) refund.

In the Nice airport, the young lady at the VAT counter looked at my forms with a stern expression, shaking her head. I resigned that I just wasn’t going to get my VAT back, but then she burst into laughter, stamped my forms and stated, “It’s all Greek to me”!

Everyone in line started laughing, too.