Oh, fer chrissake...
1. It's common practice...shoot, I apologized in Costa Rica that my Spanish wasn't as good as someone's English...and a handful of people I spoke with apologized that they didn't speak English as well as I spoke English. El mundo no terminó. Que estupido.
2. How would you personally speak with someone to whom you owed close to $800? Meet his wife, and say "yo, that biatch be fine, you done with her yet?"
I swear...some people around here would bitch if the guy's Rice Krispies didn't Snap, Crackle and Pop to their liking.