Mythbusting train chat with stranger

Today a myth was busted. The British are not at all reserved and don't necessarily discuss the weather when they address strangers. All according to a Mediterranean that told me so just before I got off my train home.

I just now (several hours later) realised that he meant that I was the Brit, and that he referred to a conversation I had with an American sitting opposite me on the train. It just didn't occur to me that anyone could mistake me for being British. I don't really look like anyone else here, and I wore a suit on a Friday, which is about as grave an error as throwing darts at people in the pub (which I - I'm sorry to confess - have also done).

So here is how I changed the gentleman's prejudice against the British.

I had a few moments before the train from Sutton were to carry me towards Clandon and the car waiting to take me to dinner. I helped a guy who had just arrived on a flight from the US find out how many stops until Epsom where he was heading. And after that we kept on talking about Europe and the US and he told me that he was from Guildford in Connecticut. All in all a friendly chat that lasted the ten minutes until he got of the train. It turned out that he was a young photographer. From what I can see on his site - he seems quite promising.

And weirdly enough, this short conversation turned out to be a mislead life-changing experience for an eavesdropper in the carriage...