Every day on his bicycle Matt passes an older man walking a dog. Lately the man has been saying 'Good morning' to Matt. This morning, the man went a step further by saying, 'Good morning. Terrible weather'. Even though Matt has been in England so many years, he made a cultural mistake. He had been thinking about how important it is to engage with one's environment, to socialise. And he was excited, and did not want to reject the man's friendly effort. So he answered, 'Yes, the snow covered the road yesterday'. Of course the man appeared disgusted by Matt's answer, much as though Matt had asked to see the man's underpants. The problem was that Matt had mentioned a road. The road has nothing to do with the weather. It is much too personal.