[weegee]

I got thrown out of a Montreal restaurant in 2001 (while attempting to look at the menu) because I spoke English. The staff made it quite clear they would not serve us because of our “crime”.

[buccaneer81]

Been there, done that (and I'm the son of a Quebecois and fairly fluent. They must have picked up on my accent.)

The worst part is that my 80 year old Mom is ashamed of her heritage.

[tranzorZ]

Mother of mercy, another place I will not go to.

[TWohlford]

“I got thrown out of a Montreal restaurant in 2001 (while attempting to look at the menu) because I spoke English. The staff made it quite clear they would not serve us because of our “crime”.”

I tried to speak French while in Montreal about the same time as you got thrown out. Most laughed politely, and then spoke perfect English. The cabbie, tho, spoke something that was totally incomprehensible, as do the Quebecois truckers who drive through Michigan.

Since Quebecois Francais is almost as different from Parisian French as Haitian Creole, it must be a game of “gotcha” — no one outside of Quebec learns “French” like that, and therefore, none speak it. It tells them who is in their club, and who isn’t.