If you were to travel to a foreign land, would you even think of abandoning your own country’s customs or anything else you may know? Most of us would not. It would be hypocritical to our own heritage, but maybe we should start thinking of that more often. It’s very possible that something we do, say or wear can be offensive to a foreigner’s customs or traditions. It’s true that we may not know if these things are offensive until we encounter a situation, but perhaps a little research before traveling would go a long way.

The Washington Nationals, based out of Washington DC, have had a few logo representations in the history of their team. Sometimes the letters “DC” are used to represent them on their hats or other merchandise and other times their full name appears over a baseball in their main logo image. They also have a curled “W” as their third representation.

During a recent trip to Israel, Tyler Allard, an assistant to Representative Jim Cooper, proudly wore a Nationals baseball cap throughout the airport. He didn’t give the cap a second thought until an Israeli airport security guard pointed to the logo on his hat with utter hatred and disgust, asking why he would wear such a hat. With laughter, the ensemble assumes that the guard is referring to the terrible performance of the American baseball team.

Their further experience of being quizzed over and over and having every inch of their luggage ravaged and searched is the reason I wouldn’t want to travel by plane very often. Apparently, green is a Palestinian color and the curly “W” of the Nationals logo closely resembles a Palestinian extremist symbol.

It makes you think twice about what to wear in the airport of a foregin country. A little thought into his clothing, and Tyler Allard could have saved himself the embarressment of having Israeli guards go through his unmentionables.