When I was 15 or so, I was out on a bike ride with a friend when the bke got a puncture. So I sat and waited while he went home for some bits to help fix it.

While I was waiting a man of about 50 turned up and started chatting. I wasn't really listening and was was "uh-huh"-ing and "Yeah"-ing without paying attention. Now, I have a stammer and at some stage in this he cleverly deduced that my hesitancy was down to not being English and had asked me if I was French - to which I had agreed! At that he got got very excited and wanted to bring his daughter out to join the talk (she was, at 25, far too old for me!). She was studying French at college and it would be an ideal opportunity for her to practise French - and of course it would make me happy as well to meet someone who spoke 'my native language' well.

Not the easiest situation I've ever had to deal with.