>peter's mother is a maid and, believe me, she's regular
>spoken to in spanish by well meaning guests who think she doesn't
>understand english.
Maybe it's a class thing expressing itself as a race thing? Were I invited to a maid-enriched household in the southern USA, I'd probably assume the maid was a Spanish-speaker, too (unless she were black, in which case I'd assume she was an English-speaker). Sometimes, you just gotta act without the data you need - and that means going with a stereotype, sure, but it needn't be one based on hue - mine of the US is that domestic servants in America are more likely to be Latin-American than Euro-continental or Anglo-American (I'm not saying my stereotype fits the real world, just that I already have one in place - before even seeing Pete's mum - that might move me to speak Spanish to her [if I could speak Spanish], and that would not be modified by, say, milky skin or blonde hair).
>other than that, i assume my point is lost on you only
>b/c you haven't read the entire thread.
You're right, Kel. But Poland ain't in the Balkan regions and Poles ain't particularly dark-skinned people. And I still think it was worth pointing that out. 'Eastern Europe' cops the same generalising sorta treatment as 'the Middle East' in Anglo-American media, and debunking the odd stereotype never hurts .
Your friendly big, beer-drinking, footy-loving, mateship-worshipping, poorly-attired, socially clumsy, six-cylinder-driving, pomo-loathing, foul-mouthed, anti-authoritarian, racetrack-attending, unsophisticated white Australian bloke with a bit of a lager-constructed verandah over the toyshop, Rob.