Years ago my friend Susie was a flight attendant for an airline that transported military personnel and their families overseas. The flights often originated from countries where very little, if any, English was spoken. Although she only spoke English and a few textbook-type phrases of other languages, Susie was not daunted. Indeed, she not only welcomed the challenge but relished it. Pantomime, patience, voice inflection, and smiles went a long way. She never imagined, however, that she would have to communicate, in any fashion, this instruction: "No, Ma'am, you do not put babies in the overhead compartment." Yet she did.