A German man wanted to buy a train ticket to visit his friend in Naples. He goes to the Italian ticket agent and buys the ticket, but explains that he wants to reserve a seat facing the
direction that the train was going. The Italian ticket agent hands the German his ticket, and he
boards the train. To his discomfort, he finds that his assigned seat is facing the opposite the
direction of the train. After a long journey, he gets off in Naples and meets his friend, who asks him how the ride was.
“It was awful,” says the German man, “I was given a reverse seat, and now I feel absolutely nauseous.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” says the friend, “did you try explaining the situation and asking the person sitting across from you if they were willing to switch seats?”
“I would have,” said the German man, “but unfortunately the seat across from me was empty.”