Life in the Foreign Service

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			Foreign Service Humor: Not Necessarily an Oxymoron By GENE SCHMIEL “Did you even wonder why Reader’s Digest has a section every month entitled ‘Humor in Uniform’ about the military but not one entitled ‘Humor in Striped Pants and Morning Coat’ about the Foreign Service?. . . . That is because, as everyone knows, every single man and woman in the Foreign Service is inherently dour, serious, staid, sedate, and, let’s face it, downright dull.” [Full text] Overland by Jeep to Kabul ( . . . long years ago) By CARL R. FRITZ “Going back the way I had come about two or three miles, I found my friend pulling an arrow from the canvas in his jeep. We never figured out the reason, but someone had shot an arrow at him. And we were still in Pakistan, a very friendly country at the time!” [Full text] Excitement Around Here Last Week! By HENRY MATTOX (EDITOR, American Diplomacy) “Ambassador [Clinton E.] Knox and Ward Christensen, the chief of the consular section, were kidnapped and held some 20 hours at the residence by terrorists — as you well know from news reports. They were finally released unharmed, of course, but it was a harrowing, nervous period.” [Full text] Return to American Diplomacy front page