Rushing to the potty

Currently in recovery mode from my marathon week at World Dairy Expo in Madison last week, I'm starting to succumb to the usual post-Expo cold that always seems to take hold after the long days and late nights and changing weather that week always holds (along with great friends and spectacular cows). One encounter from the week still has me giggling. As usual one of the evenings last week I was sequestered in the lonely back hallway, behind the media room in the Alliant Energy Center, putting together the following day's Expo Daily Edition - the daily paper Agri-View creates for World Dairy Expo. The show always attracts a couple thousand international visitors, which can make for some interesting encounters and discussions regardless. One of these visitors, a Japanese businessman, came barrelling up the stairwell I was working in, looking sweaty and distressed.

Japanese businessman: "All doors locked. Must find the potty."

Me, with a sympathetic look, because we've all been there: "Follow me, I'll show you." I efficiently whisk him through the back hall of the building, which included a "tricky" move through a two-way elevator, a shortcut I was quite proud of, to the bathroom. I point to the men's bathroom.

Me: "There you go."

Japanese businessman looks at me quizzically and at the door I'm pointing to. He puts his hand on the door and peeks inside skeptically. He looks back at me. "No, I need to get to the party."

Me, blushing: "Oh, PARTY! That's downstairs..." He sees the stairs and dashes away from the crazy American girl in relief, seeing his route back to the event he had somehow gotten locked out of. As soon as he seemed to be out of earshot I burst out laughing at my complete misunderstanding. Oy.