My mother is cool and calm as ever, but she has subtle ways for messing with people when they piss her off. Americans can’t stand when people speak in different languages around them. It betrays our intrinsic egoism—we’re always convinced it’s about us. The irony, of course, is that Mom plays right into it. “Mom, I don’t have time—” “For this, yes, you do,” she says. “Besides, it’s on the way back to your office.”
