Asking For It

This picture was taken up in Galicia, which has long been notorious as a hub for drug trafficking between South America and Europe. Because the Spanish legal system is so loopholey, drug traffickers have been known to become smug, even brazen. Still, it seems to me that this is just asking for trouble.

At first blush, this may look like a sign directing a driver to the local moron (by all appearances, a state-sponsored attraction). It is not. Although the Spanish word for “moron” is in fact a cognate, it is a cognate of a different stripe: imbécil. Anyway, don’t go around here asking for the local moron. You will look like an imbecile.

“SE ALQUILA” means “FOR RENT.” I’m considering this place: with the state of the dollar, it may be the only one I can afford. It’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but on past excursions abroad, if I happened across a few greenbacks I’d tucked away for the trip home, I couldn’t help being a little impressed by them. Dollars always looked solid, dependable. Not anymore.

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Charlie Geer is the author of the novel “Outbound: The Curious Secession of Latter-Day Charleston.” His work has appeared in Tin House, The Sun, Bloomsbury Magazine, and The Southern Review.