It’s only later, when faced with very real life and death issues, that you notice all of what you should have noticed on the first go-around. In this case, absent the zap of international travels and far-flung locales with even more far-flung locals, I’d probably have caught it all. But I got sloppy. “My mother wants to know if she can have your email.” I was in Austria. A friend from Hungary who I was staying with had suggested I come along and meet his mother.