“Excuse Me, But Is Your Name Jeff?”

I was on a train from Naples to Rome, first class, when I saw a guy I vaguely recognized. For some reason, it came to me that his name was Jeff. I thought maybe he was married to a friend in New York or something.

“Excuse me,” I said (traveling in a foreign country gives you license to be bolder than at home). “But is your name Jeff?”

“Yes…It is,” he said, sort of startled but polite. We then began the name game. “Are you from New York?” I asked, and he nodded. He said he was an Read more