Here’s a true one for you. As I’ve repeated ad nauseum, I’m a wee squirt, but worked on the buildings when I first came over. After two or three years of holding my own as a labourer, along with big Paddies and Poles, I took a job as a porter on a small station on the GNER. I felt embarrassed in my uniform with the peak cap and what-have-you, so, as a train started to pull out of the station, I put my hands nonchalantly in my pockets, and dandered along the platform, kicking at small pebbles. Unfortunately, my shoes were a size too big, and one flew off and over the bridge to the main road below. If any of those passengers are alive, I bet they’re still grinning!

Dabbler
That,s probaly how the song originated " Paddy works on the railway"
First time I came to Germany 1970, we went into a Resturant and ordered a half chicken with chips, a luxury for us . It arrived ,together with a knife and fork wrapped in a paper serviette, together with a small sachet, totally new to us. We opened the sachet and inside was a small paper about the size of a pocket handkerchief saturated in lemon juice. Being the first time we were confronted with such an object we nonchalantly, wiped our chickens with them, after wards we were told they were for removing the grease from our hands as it is quite acceptable to eat poultry with your hands in Germany.
Donald