Well, this'll teach me to dare to go any place (she said,
slangily). From the horse's (dang-near left the s out!
Whew!) mouth: I meant that I questioned the propriety of
asking someone where they are from. I have a very intense
curiosity (must be on life # 6 or 7, at least), and often have unintentionally crossed the line from friendly interest to being invasive. Some people are extremely sensitive, and what I see as an innocent question may send someone off into an offended tirade/sulk/whatever.
This is a borderline area of propriety. It would take a very unusual set of circumstances for me to ask an obviously handicapped person how they got that way, but the
'where are you from' thing can be a bit dodgy (hey! I can use British slang, too!). For an example, when Iran held
Americans hostage ('81?) for so long, a dark-haired, dark-complected Jewish friend of ours had a T-shirt made that said "I am not an Iranian". You never know where people are coming from, literally or attitudinally.
