Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Won't Miss #328 - English practice moochers


One evening, my husband and I met up around 9:00 p in Nakano after long tiring days at our respective jobs. Our plan was to have a nice dinner and unwind after talking to people all day. As we were walking along, a stranger in a business suit rushes up alongside my husband and asks if we'll speak English with him at a bar. This was neither our first or last experience with random strangers just walking up to us and asking if we'd devote our free time to giving them what they want at no profit to us and without the context of an existing relationship. It is also not a rare experience among obviously foreign-looking folks. The odd thing is that people seem surprised when we don't jump at the chance to spend our evening in conversation with strangers so they don't have to pay for their English practice.

I won't miss people believing that it's okay for them to invade upon my private time to get free work out of me.