Russian to the Rescue

During a nine-hour layover at Cairo airport, TIME Correspondent Lee Griggs recently observed his fellow travelers in the transit-passenger lounge, including a group of young Americans. His report:

THREE planes had just landed close on each other's engine exhausts: a Pakistan International flight carrying a group of Chinese from the Albanian capital of Tirana to Shanghai, a Soviet Aeroflot Ilyushin-18 taking a group of students from Somalia to Moscow, and a TWA Boeing that was transporting American kids in tie-dyed shirts home to their oil-company parents in Saudi Arabia after a summer in the States.

Mao badges gleaming on their blue tunics, the Chinese, many of whom were young government officials, moved off by themselves into a corner--as they usually do. To a man, they pulled out their little red books and began studying the gospel according to Mao. The American teen-agers were fascinated. Two of them approached the knot of Chinese and offered to buy the Mao badges. The Chinese ignored them. The Americans persisted. Then one Chinese let loose with a torrent of Mandarin that sounded abusive.

For some inexplicable reason, the Somali students took the side of the Americans and crowded menacingly toward the Chinese, who started shouting in Mandarin for help. Cairo airport police stood aside, fearful of offending anyone. Finally, a Russian flight engineer from the Moscow-bound Aeroflot plane shouldered his way between the Chinese and Somalis.

Smiling broadly and speaking English, he told the Somalis that as a member of the Aeroflot crew, he could give them orders. He told them to go to the bar and have a soft drink, courtesy of Aeroflot.

The Americans were offered the same, and accepted. He made no such offer to the flustered Chinese, but used the only Chinese words he knew: "Kung Hei Fat Choy [Happy New Year]," even though that celebration will come in January. It broke up the Chinese. As they giggled wildly, the Aeroflot engineer, still smiling, added in English: "you bastards."

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