A photo on the front page of the newspaper on my desk shows what I took at first glance to be two rows of gold rings with big rubies mounted in the center, but at second glance turned out to be two rows of soldiers standing at attention, dressed in camoflague uniforms, wearing red berets, seen from above.

On Austria’s highways, it is not unusual to get stuck behind a military truck full of bored recruits going somewhere, sleeping, picking their noses or staring out the back at you with blank expressions on their faces. Around Christmas time, it is also common to see trucks piled high with Christmas trees wrapped in nylon netting on their way to Vienna’s markets. One morning not too long ago, on my way to work, I followed what I thought was a truckload of recruits, staring at me out of sleepy faces, for about half a mile before I realized they were really Christmas trees.

Have you ever done this: seen someone and thought, “Who’s that dorky-looking person?” and then realized it was your reflection?