[qF]

I wouldn't call it rudeness, it's more a habit, you might find it rude, but that is your interpretation. Holland is a really small country that survives by trading with other countries. The countries around it are all much bigger and tend to want to speak their own language (German, French, English) so it has become common that the Dutch person adapts instead of forcing the other person to speak Dutch.

Though funnily enough I will (during the summer) quite often get addressed in German when I enter a shop, at which point I haven't even said anything yet nor do I speak German.

[wasigh]

Happens to me always at the Dutch Coast. Somehow I look a bit German.