Today, when a friend asked if I thought the world would end in 2012, I was reminded of how tough it can be for a foreigner to understand our American culture.

I mean, it’s tough enough for those of us who were born and raised in this country, and learned English from the get-go. (Not to mention our acquisition, along the way, of useful local expressions such as “get-go.”)

This earth-shattering question was posed by a native of a faraway country who has not yet mastered either the English language or the art of sorting out fact from fiction in American cinema. My initial reaction was to wonder whether some enterprising evangelist was trying to convert an impressionable newcomer to a costly cult by terrifying her with terminally grim apocalyptic visions.

Rather than leap to my own potentially erroneous conclusions, I asked her why she was worrying about the imminent end of life as we know it. She said she’d recently seen the movie2012 (released on DVD and pay-per-view).

It turned out that my friend was connecting the dots from a scary disaster-scenario movie to the volcano eruption in Iceland and the hurricanes that have hit the Gulf Coast in recent years. I asked if she could tell me whether 2012 was a work of fiction. She looked blank, so I plunged ahead and told her that in my opinion, the world would be OK for at least the next couple of years. She looked considerably relieved.

You must be wondering why my friend sought my counsel on this crucial issue. Well, I’m pretty sure I know why. I had established my credibility with her as a reliable source of information on two issues of equally profound importance to the ongoing welfare of the human race.

The first time was when I had just come back from a fabulous trip to Paris. In the course of rhapsodizing about my beloved City of Lights, I asked my friend if she and her spouse had ever been there. Upon being told they had not, I explained to her that Paris was the most romantic city in the world, and as such, custom-designed for people in love, like her and her husband. Moreover, I noted that every time I visit Paris, I fall in love with myself all over again.

Shortly thereafter, my friend and her husband booked for Paris. Just as I predicted, they had a marvelous time. From then on, she looked at me with new respect.

The second significant occasion occurred shortly before Valentine’s Day. I asked my friend what she and her husband were doing to celebrate. She said they were planning to have a nice dinner in a good restaurant, but hadn’t decided which one. I asked if she and her spouse had enjoyed French food and restaurants while they were in Paris. She responded with that same dreamy, wish-I-were-there-right-now smile I always wear when thinking of my Paris.

Acting responsibly as her designated reliable source and self-appointed international goodwill ambassador, I suggested that she book a Valentine’s Day dinner reservation for two at Brasserie Max & Julie, a fine French restaurant on Montrose Boulevard. I was delighted, but not surprised, when she subsequently reported that they had had a wonderful evening there, thanks to my sage counsel.

When she asked me for advice today, I soon realized that she was globalizing her fear of natural disasters, stemming from a confusing series of blockbuster movie-style events that she couldn’t properly interpret due to the language barrier. She was simply seeking reassurance from a trustworthy source. But I thought what she really needed was access to some credible information on the subject.

All I could think of in that department was Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. I suggested that she rent or buy the DVD, and wrote down the information on a piece of paper that she could give the store clerk. She voiced the concern that she might not understand very much of what the erudite former vice president was saying, but I assured her that Gore spoke slowly, simply and clearly in this film, which has lots of illustrations that would help her get the big picture on global warming.

My feeling is, if you’re going to worry about something, you don’t need to go to a movie theater to be frightened by a fabricated disaster scenario. All you have to do is read the daily news to inform yourself on all kinds of catastrophic events going on right now, or coming down the road, in real life.

Or if you’re a newcomer with limited language skiils, consult a friendly local who can suggest a reliable source of information geared to your interests and comprehension level. Then you can justifiably worry about something real.

Once you’ve got the facts, maybe you’ll be inspired to take what steps you can to make our world a better, more neighborly place in which to live on a time span extending well beyond the next two years.