I went to the social security building in Chinatown yesterday. While standing in line an elderly man came over and started asking me questions in broken English. He was pointing at a piece of paper and saying, "I stand here? You stand here?" I just nodded my head and said, "I really don't know." I wasn't even sure if I was standing in the right place. I was the only white person in a line of at least forty people, and for some reason this old man felt I had some extra knowledge regarding the functions and protocol of the social security office. He kept asking me different questions. I was able to decipher around twenty percent of them, and I was unable to answer any. I kept waiting for a government employee to come by and stamp SORE THUMB on my forehead, or at least give me a cap that said stupid white guy on it. Eventual the old man and I were able to overcome the barriers of language, and he recognized me for the ignorant member of the line herd that I was, and he walked away. moo.