Be careful what you wish for

By Maxwell J. Taub
This item appears on page 40 of the June 2019 issue.

This month’s winner is MAXWELL J. TAUB of Forest Hills, New York:

On a solo trip to Naples, Italy, a few years ago, I was wandering around, just taking in the sights, when a local young man approached me. He asked, “What are you looking for?”

He continued following me, asking, “What do you want to see? What do you want to buy?”

No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get rid of him. I couldn’t shake him. Finally, in desperation, I said, “What I really want, what I want to buy… is a machine gun.”

He was silent for a few moments, then he looked up at me and asked, “What caliber?”


Tell us about the funniest thing that 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. ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Include your full mailing address. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.