So I met a Texan in London yesterday and oh my days...

[DFW]

53. Usually, the Europeans appreciate it, but not always.

I was once at the duty-free shop at Schipol, Amsterdam’s airport. I greeted the cashier in Dutch, since I was, after all, in the Netherlands. Stupid me. The woman put on a nasty tone, like I was trying to scam her. She said, “you aren’t allowed to shop here!” I asked why not? She said Dutch citizens weren’t allowed to shop at Dutch duty-free shops. I said I wasn’t a Dutch citizen. She said, “well foreigners who live in Holland can’t shop here, either!” I said I wasn’t a resident of Holland, either. She then asked why I spoke Dutch? That did it for me. I asked if she spoke English. She said yes. I then asked her if she lived in Texas? She said no. So I asked her why she spoke English? She grumbled something and rang up my sale. This “all Americans are too stupid to learn other languages” routine gets old. Maybe most us have no use for other languages, or never need to learn them. But to automatically assume we are intellectually incapable, I find highly insulting.