lavalyn,
Thank you for the clarification. Does this issue just boil down to a lack of specificity in the question? To me, when someone asks me where I'm from I don't read that as anything other than where do you live. I suppose that's because I would never move anywhere else, not for love or money.
When I saw "ambiguity" and "correct answer" in your post it made me think that you were hinting at some ill intent by the person asking the question.
Originally Posted by
asya999
I also think being curious about the person next to you may or may not make that person uncomfortable. Many people are quite private, and while I'm much less so than most, there are things I don't like to talk about, some of it having to do with one of the meanings of "where I am from".
Although some people may be uncomfortable I'm still going to be curious. The way I see it, they always have the right to say "I don't want to discuss that" or "I don't want to talk right now". I'll respect that. But I'm not going to hold myself back from meeting interesting people (one of the great joys of traveling) just because I don't know who might be made uncomfortable by what I consider to be a simple, general question.