german trains

I've been spending altogether about 12 hours in German fast trains the last week. 2 hours in first class! Was very excited about that...costed only a few euro's more. High expectations but to be honest it was a bit disappointing.  I had to share the compartment with a groups of 6 ladies who brought plastic boxes with their smelly lunch served on plastic plates with tea in plastic cups. The odors of egg and tunafish were all over the place and took away my 1st class feeling. They were quite loud (the ladies, not the tunafish) and I regretted that I understand German. You just don't want to follow all these conversations but I had no choice. At a certain moment the conversation turned to Dominique Strauss-Kahn. According to one of the ladies we don't want to know all these things...these details...it's disgusting! But then an other of them stated that it was very good having all this publicity. It would be teaching men not to just jump on every woman when they feel the need. When pronouncing the last sentence her eyes glanced at me! I was shocked. What can you do? Looking back now I should have stood up and address the whole compartment  delivering a speech stating that I never have been just jumping on women... that I know a lot of men who never do that... and that this was an unjust insult. But I didn't. I just was sitting there...being shocked. Well... and hoping that there would be cucumber in their salad. (at that day you still could get sick from cucumbers)