You Could Have Heard A Pin Drop

Some things to think about...

JFK'S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in  France  in the early 60's when DeGaulle decided to pull out of NATO.  DeGaulle said he wanted all US  military out of France as soon as possible.
Rusk responded, "Does that include those who are buried here?"
DeGaulle did not respond.

You could have heard a pin drop.




When in  England, at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the
Archbishop of Canterbury  if our plans for  Iraq  were just an example of
'empire building' by George Bush.

He answered by saying, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of
its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders.
The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return."

You could have heard a pin drop.



There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American.  During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft  carrier to  Indonesia  to help the tsunami victims.  What does he intend to do, bomb them?"

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly:  "Our carriers have three
hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck.  We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?"

You could have heard a pin drop.


A  U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies.  At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, "Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?"

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, "Maybe it's because the Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German."

You could have heard a pin drop.

One lesson in each of these stories is that there is a polite, but firm way to make your point - and leave others speechless at times. Another lesson here, is to think before you speak, so you are not the one making the uncomfortable comment.