One day Gustav Mahler and his sister Justi visited a two-story cafe in Budapest's City Park. Mahler, who was in the habit of wiping utensils and rinsing glasses before using them, filled his glass with water and absent-mindedly emptied it over his shoulder, eliciting a cry of alarm from a group of ladies on the terrace below. "So sorry," Mahler gasped, realizing his mistake. As director of the Opera, Mahler was much-loved and his absent-mindedness quickly forgiven. Indeed when, minutes later, he repeated the incident with Justi's glass, the entire restaurant just burst out laughing.
