Blog of Magic Cheese

I encountered the most awesome ambassador to the ethnicities of San Francisco in the elevator at the doctor's office the other week.

I get on the elevator with two other guys, and one of the fellows turns to me and says, in a heavy accent, "Ni hao ma."

I smiled and said "Ni hao" back to him, and he asks, in that same Spanish-speaking accent, "You speak Chinese?"

"No sir, I'm a Japanese American." I reply.

"Oh. Sayonara!" he bids me as I exit the elevator.

As I am rounding the corner, he turns to the other fellow in the elevator, a white guy, and just before the doors close, I hear him say, "What's up, man."

Isn't that fantastic? I'll admit at first I was a bit on guard because I've been hit on too many times by creepy older men in Japanese book stores, but I love the idea of somebody taking time to learn greetings in different languages, then taking time out of his day to try to greet and connect with people in (hopefully) their native languages. It's such a friendly gesture, even if my native language is English.