In a message dated 2/19/02 9:04:52 AM, [email protected] writes: << Was reading Dear Abby and someone wrote how upset they were that someone took pictures at a funeral. What are the opinions off the group? >> Were the photos taken of the deceased before or after the service or were photos taken of the people at the service? Need more information. Sandi

Germans buy over 500,000 pairs of cowboy boots annually, but US companies get little of the business because the Germans consider the toes in US boots not pointy enough. Italians dislike grapefruit-flavored Gatorade, while Germans love it. Many Europeans think Hershey chocolate bars taste bitter. The British do not like Jell-O unless it comes in a solid or wafer form. General Mills introduced its cake mix into Japan that could be prepared in an electric rice cooker, but the product turned out to be unsuccessful because Japanese homemakers believed the cake mix might contaminate the purity of their rice. Heinz is showing the rest of the world how to eat ketchup: advertisements in Greece show consumers how ketchup can be poured on pasta, eggs, and meat, but they found that Europeans like spicier, hotter ketchup than do Americans. Brazilian housewives determine their self esteem by their home making abilites and the importance of making soup from scratch eliminated any value of a soup from a can, Campbell found. Japanese are "anti-can" since most walk to the market and don't like to carry heavy cans. Campbell Soup company has divided the U.S. into 22 distinct markets based on unique cultural and ethnic tastes and preferences. Example include spicy Ranchero beans and Nacho cheese soup in the Southwest, Creole soup in the South, red been soup in Hispanic markets, pepper pot soup for Philadelphia and zesty pickles for the Northwest (I sure hope this isn't the name of a soup!). Oh, and in case you were interested, they found American consumers preferred blue and almond colors for their Rubbermaid containers. And, on one last note: I saw a Mitsubishi today and those are diamonds, not triangles. I found that Mitsubishi means "diamond" in Japanese. learned something new today! Pat