[BobRitter]

Grew up in So. Cal. and been trying to learn Spanish most of my life. Sin éxito.

If I try to speak Spanish I know I sound like an idiot but it's the only way I can ever improve.

My questions:
If I go to a Mexican restaurant and the waiter is Latino am I a rude to try and practice a bit of Spanish with them?

I was in a hardware store recently and a man who "appeared" Latino was waiting at the cashier with me. I casually said "hola' and he replied "hola". I tried a bit of my Spanish and he seemed to reply favorably. Am I a gringo bore, racist for assuming he might speak Spanish and trying to speak with him?

I travel as often as i can in South/Central America and ALWAYS been treated very wonderfully when I make a fool of myself trying to speak Spanish. Am I being offensive and people just being polite?

I recently watched several videos that made fun of gringos trying to speak Spanish and it seemed in a very mean, serious way. Makes me think maybe I have been PC incorrect all these years. I hope not. I have been told many times that trying to speak Spanish shows respect for the Spanish speaker, culture etc.

Thoughts.