I had my first negative encounter with a Parisian today.

I was shopping in Les Halles, looking for a pair of boots as a birthday gift for myself. I didn't find anything I liked so I was walking to the RER, defeated and bootless, when I saw a crepe stand and I rejoiced because I was starving and wanted to eat my unsucessful shopping emotions.
I was waiting in line and I ordered, and a business man with a blue tooth approached the stand and asked if I'd ordered. I told him I had, and he clearly heard my accent and asked where I was from, in English...so I replied in English...which offended him(!?) So he says to the crepe man in French "All Americans come here and don't learn the language" and I couldn't believe what he was saying...so I said in French "That's nasty to say when I'm standing right here" And even the crepe man, said to him "She's speaking French! Take that thing out of your ear and maybe you can understand!", but the bluetooth man turns to me and says "Tell all your American friends to try to learn the language. You have to try harder--when you come to a country you have to learn the language."

I was really upset. I wish I wasn't, it just took the wind out of my sails to be called out for being American. It made me homesick for the first time,actually. What makes me really mad is that I let that bluetooth man get to me. Psh. What a fool.
Oh well. I'm not going to go on and on about it, but I have to say, it really is a shame that Americans get such a bad rep here...considering the Americans ho go to France aren't the Freedom Fries, Freedom Toast, "We saved your asses in WWII" type of Americans. Clearly, if a young student is in France, it's because they want to be a part of France.