Mr. Var-Gay-Zee

"Mr. Var-Gay-Ze?"
"Uh huh", and I drown in twin pools of deep azure.

A brief pause - she is scanning my boarding pass. It's a Monday afternoon, past rush hour, and the flight is relatively empty. So she seems to have all the time in the world.

"Are you Spanish?"
Duh! Where did that come from. A coffee-colored Spaniard! I muster a mumbled no with a smile.
"French, then?", she says very hopefully. The pupils contract - she's thinking hard now.
"No" I say again, with a wide grin.

She looked defeated.

She pouts like a 5-year old at her failed attempt at cultural anthropology.....I melt again....."I'm Indian" I say as I stride into the aerobridge.

That must have made sense - broad forehead, long hair......whatever!

She gives me a wide grin and a thumbs-up and I have my second 'Duh!' moment in less than 1 minute.

PS - There's so much that Indian and European ground staff can learn from the Americans. Americans are mostly polite and friendly, especially with foreigners. Europeans tend to be frosty and Indians are almost always rude.