They say that travel is the best education. I tend to agree.

Not only do you learn about new places, but you get to observe people, fellow travelers, in a marvelous laboratory. With the possible exception of war, I don't think anything brings out the best and worst in people as much as travel.

I have met interesting folks on my current trip. Each has a unique story and travels for a variety of reasons. The most surprising so far was the night I spent in Memphis with the wife of actor F. Murray Abraham.

Oops. That didn't sound right. We stayed in the same bed and breakfast. I don't want F. Murray after me with a baseball bat.

At any rate, when asked why she had come to Memphis, she simply said, "For the barbecue." Mrs. Abraham is apparently something of a barbecue aficionado and claims to take several trips about the country each year revisiting favorite barbecue spots and investigating new ones.

But I digress.

As stated, most of the people I meet are delightful. Most. But not all.

I am staying in Fort Worth in another bed and breakfast situated on a ranch northwest of town. There are rooms here to accommodate eight or ten guests including one sour old woman from Chicago.

I will grant her that her first night on the Texas plains was not the gentlest introduction. We lost power to a lightning storm the likes of which are not rivaled anywhere else in the country for pure pyrotechnics. Because the water comes from a well, that meant the pump also stopped and now hot showers were to be had.

The old woman woke up mad and stayed that way during her entire visit. Even after power was restored, there seemed to be residual bitterness toward everyone in earshot. She found me at the breakfast table the morning after and demanded to know when the lights would be back on. I told her I was sure they'd be on soon, but she was beyond consolation.

By the time I saw her again the lights were working. That is when I identified her "condition."

She wasn't actively complaining about anything, but she still seemed agitated. She looked out the window dejectedly for awhile and against my better judgment I tried to strike up pleasant conversation.

She was staring at the partially graveled road that led past several houses before it wound its way to a dead end in the driveway of the ranch. She grunted responses to several of my attempted pleasantries and I happened to be watching when her face brightened momentarily. I thought something amusing had finally occurred to her so I was all ears.

"Did those people know you were going to start a bed and breakfast on the end of their road?" She asked in an accusatory tone.

"Well, I didn't start the bed and breakfast. I'm just a guest here but I understand that the ranch has been here for over a hundred years and the houses are fairly new so I imagine they had an inkling."

To my total lack of amazement she said, "I wouldn't care to have all this traffic running back and forth in front of my house."

"All this traffic" amounted to the three cars owned by the guests who were in current residence.

"No ma'am," I said. "That would be annoying."

We sat in silence for a moment. I should have gotten up and walked away but something about her made me want to try again.

"Moths." She said.

"Moths?" I inquired.

"Did you have moths in your room last night?"

"I didn't notice any," I said.

She seemed disappointed. I decided to try another tack.

"Wait a minute! There WERE moths in my room last night! I remember now!"

I thought the woman was going to pass out from sheer delight.

"Were they those big, yellow ones?" she asked excitedly.

"They most certainly were!" I nodded indignantly.

"They ought to do something about those moths!" she said.

"Some kind of spray!" I intoned. "You pay good money for a nice place to stay and it has moths in it."

"These folks obviously don't know how to operate an inn." she replied.

"No ma'am. That's apparent."

We were now buddies.

I got us some coffee and we spent most of the next hour thinking of things to complain about and upon which we could agree.

The moral of the story is that many of the people who we perceive as not being happy actually have a great capacity for happiness inside them. It is just that it only surface when they are complaining about something.

The rest of us perceive this as unhappiness but the fact is that they are really having the time of their lives.

So next time you find someone who doesn't want to "get along," just set them down and start agreeing with them. You'd be amazed at all the fine folks are out there who just need you to break their rotten ice.