Cultural stereotypes

Madam, - A lady stopped me on the street yesterday asking if I knew anyone who does cleaning - and what's more, if I cleaned …

Madam, - A lady stopped me on the street yesterday asking if I knew anyone who does cleaning - and what's more, if I cleaned houses myself. She asked very nicely, but what she thought was a harmless inquiry to some Asian stranger on the street, I found really insulting, and quite racist.

I am an Irish-born Chinese working as a software engineer.Does being Chinese mean that I work as a cleaner? As our cities are becoming more multicultural, I would have thought stereotypes such as the one I encountered were long gone. - Yours, etc,

VICKY LEE, Parkgate Street, Dublin 8.