Two Americans at a French church

Two American tourists were traveling across Europe. The tourists were scheduled to arrive in France on Sunday afternoon. However, they arrived several hours early, and had little to do on Sunday morning as everything was closed.

"Well," one said to the other, pointing to a nearby Cathedral, "Why don't we attend the prayer?"

"Sure," replied his friend. "But we don't know how the French pray and we can't speak French!"

The first guy thinks of a solution. "We will pick a guy in front of us, and whatever he does, we will do that."and we will do whatever he does."

His friend agreed. They entered the church, sat close to the front, and chose a guy to be followed.

Fifteen minutes passed, and their plan was working well. There was no issue even after thirty minutes.

By the time forty-five minutes passed, they had gotten used to the routine. Suddenly, while everyone was seated, the priest said something in French and the gentleman they chose stood up. Without thinking, the two Americans stood up as well.

The church burst into laughter.

Realizing that no one else was standing up, the two American men left in embarrassment. They waited for the prayer to end, and then approached the priest, who spoke English.

"We are well-meaning people but we do not speak French and randomly chose some guy to imitate while praying," one said.

The priest chuckled. "Ah. You're probably wondering why everyone laughed at you."

"Yes," replied the other American.

"Well, you see, I announced the Baptism of a child and asked for the father of the child to stand up."