Surprise

The secret to humor is surprise.

Aristotle

I was 20, returning from a fantastic year in Canada and a three-month trip across the United States with my sister, I was looking forward to seeing everyone again. I arrived with my sister at Geneva airport. Once the customs controls passed, the door opened and I saw on the right a long red carpet and our friends at the other end. Suddenly, I heard the music of la Marseillaise (they told us later that they hadn’t found the Swiss anthem) coming out of a radio cassette placed on the ground. They were all laughing at our surprised faces as we were walking on the red carpet. It was our hour of glory, many people were watching us, thinking that guest stars were arriving in Geneva. At the end of the long carpet, there was a bottle of white wine from the Côtes de l’Orbe.