So... I am a racist?!!

I have touched someone's nerve today...
accidentally of course...

When I was having dinner in the school today, one of the student from I country refused to drink the Bak Kut Teh that is supposed to be his share. I plainly commented, hey, it is good, and it fit you .. dark colour... that's it!

He reacted in a way that is rather shocking to me... saying that I am so racist, always talking about colour (do I?)... said he has observed me from the first day in school and I was really a racist...

I am rather confused, and other classmates are confused as well... I was making a plain joke, but somehow this 'plain' and 'harmless' joke, which is harmless to everyone, is not so harmless to this one person.

To be honest, I bear no grudge whatsoever against his country. If you are asking which is the country I hated most, it will be my country, or secondly the country where I am staying now. I have no intention to insult anyone, much less in this school community. but still, the damage is done.

Well, lesson learned is this: You must be tactful and blameless to ALL people. No matter how good you are in how many occasions, one single act of mistake can undo all your good deeds.