It is so easy to give offence. Suppose a passenger asks at the Information Desk where he should go to pay his airport tax.
Now the good news is that at Heathrow, unlike many airports I could name, passengers don't pay any taxes. But just as the Information Assistant begins to say so, she is assailed by a tremendous itch and tugs at her earlobe.
Astonishing though it may seem, this simple gesture means five different things in five different Mediterranean countries.
Depending on his nationality, the Assistant has offered the passenger the following insult:
TO A SPANIARD: 'You rotten sponger'.
TO A GREEK: 'You'd better watch it, mate'.
TO A MALTESE: 'You're a sneaky little so-and-so'.
TO AN ITALIAN: 'Get lost you pansy'.
Only a Portuguese ( to whom the gesture signifies something ineffably wonderful) would hang around long enough to hear the answer.