The middle finger

... in Spain has two functions: #1 being the same in the U.S., where people freely express their love for one another by waving it in salutation. In other words, mostly when kids decide to taunt each other and when someone's ticked off and when they're irritated by someone's inability to drive as if they had any brains, and when teenagers mess around.

#2 being their pointer finger. Alas, Spaniards don't seem to believe in the first finger as a grand tool to point things out. Instead they choose to use the middle finger from everything to underlining words on the chalkboard, to pushing their glasses farther up their nose, to pointing out a street on a map, to itching their face. So if you ever get the chance to travel to Spain, plan to take it in stride that over here, unless the middle finger comes with some choice swear words, it's probably not a hand signal that they hate people from the U.S.