Proud to be an American

One thing my foray through various airports this time around taught (or re-taught) me:

What language do the French speak to the Italians?
English. (That's right--both Romance languages, but they understand each other better in English.)

What language do the Germans speak to the French?
English. (And then the French surrender.)

What language do the Swiss speak to the Danes?
English.

What language does anyone speak to the Japanese?
English.

What language do the Norwegians speak to the Danes?
Well, Norwegian or Danish, depending. As one of my Danish colleagues informed me, "Danish is exactly the same as Norwegian, except that it's spelled correctly."
But it's okay, because the Norwegians and the Danes still all speak better English than a lot of Americans (and by "Americans," I mean "southerners") I know.

Also, the US is apparently still the only country to have realized that, when boarding an airplane, it is far more efficient to have the back rows board first, and so on, rather than just let everyone crowd on at the same time.