[Well, for what it's worth that actually gets a laugh out of him - really, even if it was a brush-off...well, he's had worse and they didn't deter him then, so, uh. Take that as you will!]

...Ah, no, no, I'm not from this place, either. Many of us seem to be in the same situation, really - c'est malheureux, terribly unfortunate all around, but from what I've heard there's not much we can do about it for now besides enjoy the view.