In the elevator.

“Up or down?”, I ask in Chinese.

“Up”, the middle aged man replies, also in Chinese. Unable to restrain himself: “Wow, you’re Chinese is amazing! You speak so well”.

I would have liked to reply with “disingenuous or ignorant?” because this guy, like the (literally) thousands of others who have offered me the same reply in similar situations can only be one of the two.

Disingenuous because of his over the top reaction to me saying three elementary words can only mean that he is making fun of me. Or…Ignorant because he cannot fathom that a non-Chinese could say, “up or down”.

Pay attention. Life here is about the details. It’s not how someone treats you when inviting you to their home. It’s how the stranger treats you in the elevator.