Originally Posted by
username
And on the subject of language...a few months ago, a guy started his trade negotiation with me by asking me "do you speak English?" I was so speechless for a few seconds by his question, he assumed I did not and the negotiation ended there
Sometimes you do have to use your foreign look to your advantage
Funny that you find that insulting - I think that's its polite (although you were there and I concede that of course he might just have been your typical bigot lol). I travel constantly and I would never assume that the person (especially on an airplane) I am going to speak with speaks english - so I always ask - before I attempt to slaughter and butcher the local native language...