cabbage, i was not "too in their faces" as you nicely put it. the man who told me this is a new acquaintance, we met at a mutual friend's house get together. over dinner, we- he, me and all the friends at the dinner table- talked about life in doha, life in the home countries then on to current events like the european crisis. and the man is a lot older than me, like 10 years or so. so what you posted as the reason for the comment is very unlikely.