Causality

When one thing is next to another, 
it's easy to assume a causal relationship 
between them: for instance, if the girl 
in the train station with a slightly 
disheveled bob and a lit cigarette 
in her fingers has a French-English 
dictionary poking out of her backpack, 
she is either an exchange student 
or an au pair or both. If she wears 
an expression of sophisticated  
ennui, it's because small towns 
in the south aren't really her thing;
or, train delays are annoying in whatever
language. If a brown-skinned woman
is buying a Peruvian wrap from Ten 
Thousand Villages, the cashier 
can assume she is from Peru! But 
the woman says No, sorry, 
I've got to run; my llama 
is in the Fire Lane. Expressing
strong feelings, like anger or 
annoyance, doesn't always work 
the same for everyone. It seems some
languages are more causal then others.