DEAR ABBY: I was having a conversation with an elderly Hispanic gentleman recently when a man approached us from 100 feet away and admonished us to speak English because "we're in America now, you know."
I replied: "Why? Because you're too stupid to learn a foreign language? We weren't talking to you or about you. Besides, there wouldn't be much point because this gentleman doesn't speak English."
In a recent column you stated that it is extremely rude to speak a foreign language in front of someone who doesn't speak that language. However, what is even more rude is listening to someone else's conversation when they aren't speaking to you. -- DAVE WILLIS, DALLAS
DEAR DAVE: When I said that it's rude to speak a foreign language in front of someone who doesn't speak that language, it was in the context of a social situation in which there were four people. I was not talking about two individuals having a private conversation in a public place.