Anywhere in the world you may end up in, chances are, you will meet someone who is not tolerant of differences. Someone who has unreasonable hatred or fear of someone who is perceived to be different. Despite knowing that, though, it still shocks the hell out of me whenever I am faced with someone who judges people based on the color of their skin, the language that they speak and/or the the slant of their eyes.

The latest experience I had was last July 21 while buying Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows at Buecher Bruckmann in Main Taunus Zentrum.

There was a crowd of people (among them a group of 3 19 year old boys) standing around what was left of the newly-released HP books. I picked one book out and opened it to check if it was really in English and not in German. I heard someone beside me snicker and say something that sounded like Ching Chang. And just as I was ready to walk away, one of the boys tapped me on my shoulder. With a condescending loud tone and in his heavily accented German-English (yes, I am being mean now!), he asked me if I knew that the book was in English and that I would probably not understand anything.

I am a 32-year old mother of two. I usually do not let young idiots bother me just because they wanted to look superior. But that day, I was pissed.

So… in my best American accent (thanks to years of watching Hollywood! hehe), I answered loudly with, “judging from the way you speak English, mine is a lot better than yours.” And with a smile, I walked a way.

I do not really recommend answering the way I did. But saying what I did felt good at that time.

What would you have done?