A conversation in another language made a huge difference

Tweet

Many years ago my parents, my brother and I were driving around in France. We had rented an RV in Germany because it was cheaper than renting it in Denmark. One day we arrived at a camping site in northern France. My parents asked the staff if it was possible to stay there for a few days. At first the staff ignored my parents and when my father kept asking they just said "No vacancies" and they seemed annoyed and unfriendly. My parents started discussing where to go instead and they were talking to eachother in Danish. They were about to leave, but suddenly one of the staff members said "Wait, you aren't German?" My parents told him that they were Danish. The staff started smiling and suddenly became very friendly. They said: "Welcome, let me find a spot for you" The staff excitedly started talking about some of the famous Danish soccer players and they told my parents how much they admired those soccer players. My parents weren't that interested in soccer, but they knew enough about the topic to be able to participate in the conversation. My parents were happy that they didn't have to look for another camping site, but it never would have happened if they hadn't had that conversation in Danish