Unfiltered Story #258060

(My junior year of high school the choir and band take a trip to the Québec providence in Canada. We’re americans. I’ve been taking French for three years, so I’m trying to speak it as much as possible, but if I have trouble understanding someone I usually explain that I’m not fluent and whoever I’m speaking to is usually able to switch to English. I’m purchasing something and approach the counter.)
Me: Bonjour!
Cashier: Bonjour, [something I don’t catch]
(In a panic I forget how to ask her to repeat herself and blurt the first thing that comes to mind:)
Me: I don’t speak French!
Cashier: Ok…. how are you?
(It’s then that my brain clicks and I realize that she had said “ça va?” but it’s too late to save face, so I go through the rest of the transaction as fast as possible and basically sprint from the shop. I can’t imagine how dumb I must have seemed, to start a conversation in French and then exclaim that I can’t speak the language when she asks “how are you?” I’m grateful that there’s no risk of me ever entering that shop again.)