Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

The end of the Second World War. The allied armies meet on the Elbe. A Russian officer is lying in bed with an American woman.

The American woman takes an orange from the table, peels it and places the peel neatly in a little jar.

'What do you collect orange peel for?' asks the Russian.

'We make fruit conserves from the peel and send them to Russia,' says the American woman.

An hour went by. They made love, the Russian took off his French letter, folded it neatly and put it in his pocket.

'What do you collect used French letters for?' the American woman asks in amazement.

'We make them into chewing gum and send them to America.'