This weekend, I was in Dolni Morava. There is a ski resort of sorts there…. I wasn’t skiing so for a couple of hours or so, I was left to wander around. It was pretty chilly and so I ended up in the restaurant which was packed. I ordered my self a hot chocolate in Czech after waiting my turn. The man, a tall and thin guy, looked at me as if I were and alien. I repeated myself. “Deutsche,” he said. A bit puzzled, I repeated my request in Czech. After all, its not a difficult sentence – “Horka chocolada prosim”. The man looked quite angry – “Deutsche” he said again. “English?” I asked. He repeated, almost spat “Deutsche”. The waitress beside of him looked quite shocked at this and she plainly understood me so I turned to her and repeated my Czech request. The hot chocolate duly arrived and I sat for a while drinking it.
Knowing that my daughter would soon be finishing her skiing, I went back to the man and asked him if he had some hot tea suitable for a child. This time, he seemed to understand but shot back something about only black tea for adults. He then repeated “Deutsche?” “Ne,” I said and left puzzled.
Of course, when Deni came back, we all went back in looking for two coffees and a hot chocolate. I got the same bewildering response form the man. Why on Earth was he asking if I spoke German? Plainly, I was speaking Czech and I assume by my accent, he would know I was English. I stood there, pretty bewildered while repeating my order only for him to ask me “Deutsche”. I said, “English? – its better than German”, in Czech. He didn’t like this at all and started to get angry. Quite frankly at this point I told him to ‘get lost’, I mean there is a limit to anyone’s patience and he had pushed mine. The girl beside him was totally embarrassed and began to make two coffees as I had requested. He told her not to and that no one was to serve me. I was to leave, he said.
I got the girls and as we left I tossed him – We are leaving you asshole. At which, he jumped over the bar, grabbed me by the arm and was about to hit me. Deni, being Deni, got in the middle somehow and I swear was ready to kick him in the shins…. I just looked up calmly into this man’s eyes and said with my mind…”Go on and you will regret it….” It lasted about 45 seconds and then his eyes wavered, he looked down, let go of my arm and I turned away and walked out. He knew, as did I, that he had no excuse for his behaviour and that about 100 sets of eyes were upon him puzzled at his behaviour.
They say you should never judge someone else as you just don’t know what kind of a day they have had or what problems they are facing, but I have to tell you, I have no idea what on earth was making this man behave that way. I was polite, I spoke Czech – I even said “Ale Mluvim Cesky!”(But, I speak Czech!) when he asked me to speak German.
Maybe he was just an anti-English racist – they exist (even within the UK) or, maybe he thought I was an American and hates them too? Who knows?
I just know that it deeply disturbed me and still does. Perhaps, in the end, he just has mental issues. I will never know. Maybe, I had hurt him in a past life? Bizarre. Just bizarre.