I averted this particular peccadillo.

A few years ago my husband and I were invited to the wedding of two Arab friends. He is from Syria, she from Iraq. The wedding was a rather large Arabic affair, with family and friends and acquaintances.

I knew that the traditional wedding gift at an Arabic wedding is money. The German soul in me has always balked at giving money as a present. On the odd occasion that I couldn’t avoid it I felt obliged wrap it and disguise it nicely and not just hand over the bills.

So there we were at the venue, the couple was sitting on an elevated dais and the wedding guests stepped up to congratulate them and give them their gift. There I was clutching this red literal piggy-bank when it suddenly struck me that a pig would be the most inappropriate present. I remember once dropping my keyfob (a pink pig) in class and the reaction I got from my students. From our time in Saudi Arabia I know that anything porcine, even a drawing or just the written word, makes them uncomfortable. (I blogged about the incident in 2016, if you want to read the whole post, you can find it here. Please note: I write in English and German and the English version is at the bottom of the post.) I got up with red blotches forming on my cheeks, retreated to the bathroom, fumbled the money out of the pig and packed it clumsily in my rather small purse. We handed over the money, in bills, without pretense. Peccadillo averted at the last minute.

Double-dipping for FOWC with Fandango: Truth

and Ragtag Daily Prompt: Peccadillo

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