They’re The Same In Any Language

Random Man: “Hey, hi! You know, you look so interesting. Where are you from?”

Me: “I’m originally from [Country], many years ago now.”

Random Man: *ignores my obvious hint* “Oh, wow! That’s so interesting! So, you must speak [Language], right?”

Me: “Well, yes.”

Random Man: *gleefully* “Ooh, say something dirty in [Language]!”

Me: *sweetly* “Sure! I charge $175 per hour for my interpreting and translation services. I only accept cash.” *holds out hand expectantly*

Random Man: “Haha, funny!”

(When I continue to hold out my hand with a straight face, he becomes shocked.)

Random Man: “What? But, but, but…”

(This was followed by a slew of predictable excuses about “just” being “friendly,” and “interested,” etc. while I said bye and walked away. I don’t want to come off as biased here, so I’ll emphasize that this is just my own personal experience: I’m female, and in the nearly two decades these incidents have been happening to me, absolutely every single one of these random strangers in these interactions has been male, and pushy and overbearing ones, at that.)