It's all in the Accent

Rarely, I experience some encounter enhancing my cultural awareness at Super Target.  Living in Texas, this whole concept of super-sizing everything from your Happy Meal to your neighborhood discount store is quite prevalent.  Today, I had the distinct pleasure of overhearing a stout Caucasian gentlemen who must have been in his late 50's-early 60's ask the cashier what her country of origin happened to be.  He said, "Are you Nigerian, or something?"  She replied that she was, and he stated his revelation that, "I knew you had to be from Nigeria or some country in Africa.  I could tell by your accent".  

I realize that people are attempting to relate and think that they are so cultured when they pick up a foreign accent and can decipher the originating ethnicity.  I remember an episode of blind date, when the guy asked the woman, "You must be from a foreign country".  When she shared that she was from Russia, he said, "I knew you were from another country, I could tell by your accent."  Now, I am Indian, and I talk like anyone on the street.  So, I allow new people to ask me at least five questions before I let them in on my little secret about "where I'm from".  My answer is usually, "The Midwest".