Employing examples from the British comedy series Fawlty Towers, this article sets out to show how a refined version of Grice's theory of non-observance of maxims can illustrate the issue of the relative imbalance in native vs. non-native interaction. Negative reactions to deviations from native speaker norms and an ensuing increase of linguicism might be discouraged by raising general public and political representatives' awareness concerning the specific snags of being a second or foreign language speaker in an increasingly globalized world.