A few months ago I was in a full-day workshop provided by my work and while waiting for the workshop to start, I queued for a coffee that is provided.
A bit of a context, I'm working abroad, and my company is full of internationals.
Someone in front of me in the queue turned to me, and the first thing they said was guessing my nationality. I was confused about the situation, and asked how they guessed it. They proceeded to tell me that my accent is definitely not from country X, so I should be from country Y.
Here's the thing. I look nothing like anyone from country X, and the only thing that country X and Y have in common is they are the most common source for domestic workers in the country of origin of the person who started that conversation.
I wasn't really incline to continue the conversation, because somehow I didn't feel comfortable. So I just put on a "business laugh" and continued enjoying the silence.
Meanwhile, the person who guessed my nationality continued talking to another person, and they suddenly said to me, "I feel like I should include you in the conversation."
Again, I felt confused and uncomfortable with that…
I still couldn't figure out exactly why I felt that…
What's in my mind now is…
Are they being friendly… or they're actually crossing some sort of boundary?