Where have peoples manners gone to ?

[Garp]

Originally Posted by AboveTheSalt

Now, you've set me to wondering, how did you manage to identify to which "racial or religious group" each of these people belonged

I simply can't imagine meeting a stranger on a bus or in a pub and asking to see their passport.

Do you ever have conversations with random people whilst out and about? It's surprising how often such things do come up, particularly when I've just got onto a bus with an acoustic guitar and a bag of pedals and stuff when on my way to church. I've lost count how many times I've had a conversation like so:
Them: That's a heavy load, off to something specific?
Me: Yeah, on my way to church, I'm involved in the worship team.
Them: You're a Christian then?
Me: Yup, card carrying, Jesus loving, Spirit filled Christian. (or whatever feels appropriate)
Them: Oh, I'm a muslim/hindu/christian/flying spaghetti monsterist myself

Jews are easy to spot, they're the main ones shopping in the Kosher aisle at Asda

Having worked closely with people from a fair number of European countries and all sorts of nationalities, I'm fairly adept at picking out nationalities based on accents, quirks of their english wording, and odd words in their own language.. e.g. Polish people have a tendancy to say "Tak.. Tak.." while in conversation with each other.