Possibilité de photos

Half a life ago, I worked as a waitress at a very large restaurant in a Michigan tourist town.  Because our uniforms were inspired by German styles, it was common to be asked to pose with folks while wearing our waitress uniforms. They always wanted the male waiters in the pictures, too, since they had to wear lederhosen.


Just look at us.  We're adorable!  Who wouldn't want a pic of this?
(No, that's not really me.)

One afternoon after my shift, I observed a family trying to take a scenic picture outside the restaurant. They'd pose, snap a picture, the photographer would hand the camera to someone else, they'd shift around some, and take another shot. It didn't take long to realize they were trying to get everyone in the scene with one picture or the other.
I walked over and addressed the man holding the camera. "Would you like me to take a picture for you so you all can be in the picture together?"
He gave me a blank look. Too late, I realized they'd all been speaking French.
"I don't suppose you speak English?"
No. None of them did.
But, now I had their full attention. They were very curious what the girl in the dirndl had come over to tell them.
I could not think of a way to make them understand, "Nevermind. It's not important."  So I continued with Plan A and figure out how communicate I wanted to take their group photo.

Have you ever tried to convince a total stranger to hand over their very expensive camera to you? Try doing it without using words.
After a great deal of pointing (your camera, me) and gesturing (you go there, me clicky clicky), they finally understood what I was offering. There were some squeals of delight, lots of laughter, and THE biggest smiles you ever saw in a family photo.

***

In a scrapbook somewhere in France today, there's a beautiful family photo that was taken in Frankenmuth, Michigan. And everytime it is shown, there's mention of the girl in a dirndl who took it