Alte Damen

Every now and again you come across really cranky old Swiss ladies in Basel (not all the time, mind you--we've met some really sweet old ladies on trams, in shops, etc). Anyway, tonight I was on a tram when the doors started to close as an old lady was starting to board, so I hit the button to open the doors before they closed on her. Rather than smile, say "danke schön", etc., she did the natural thing--she hauled off and whacked the door--hard--with her umbrella even though she was already on the tram. Then she marched straight back toward what must have been her favorite seat, because the guy who was sitting there got up so fast he must have thought she was going to whack him with her umbrella if he didn't get up.