It has been awhile since I’ve written anything that isn’t a review, so let’s shake things up a little with a vaguely personal post! Here’re a couple of things people have always said to me, many of which they still do till this day:
“What are you?”
Being born a multiracial means many things, and one of those things is that you’ll get a lot of questions probing into the nature of your ethnicity. I’m definitely no stranger to this, especially since I bear no resemblance to any race out there, but there are times when I’m astounded by how tactless some people can be.
“What are you?” Really?
“You’re not [multiracial/insert race]. You’re [insert race].”
Unfortunately, the idea of interracial marriage has yet to reach the minds of some. Perhaps they still live in an era where racial purity is the only way to go, or they just can’t comprehend how people from two different races can get together, especially if the both of them possess different religions.
The level of denial I’ve witnessed thus far can be quite perplexing. So much so that they can go as far as to deny a person’s racial heritage if their looks don’t match their religion.
“You work too much.”
This is a funny one because as of late, it doesn’t really register in my mind that I do work a lot. Maybe it’s because I’ve finally found something that I like doing, or because I feel like I finally have a damned purpose, but none of it feels like work to me. I happen to enjoy my new job, I love contributing articles to websites during my free time and I adore my language classes.
Sure, it can get tiring at times, but in my mind, it is all well worth it. If I work hard now, I can have things a bit easier later, is what I think.
“Mel has no feelings/interests.”
I do. I just can’t be bothered to tell you.
Which probably isn’t a very good thing, if I’m honest. Because I’m big on privacy, I have a natural dislike for sharing too much about myself with other people. Not that I’d tell this to anyone’s face, of course. Instead of saying just that, I’d laugh and joke that I have no interest aside from catching some Zzzzs.
This is a flaw that I’m working on, and I’m slowly learning to warm up to people and make (more) friends.
“Are you gay?/Do you hate men?”
No and no.
Due to my lack of interest in the men that have approached me thus far, and the model-like beauties I used to share an office with, people started to speculate whether I play for the same team. –That said, though, now that I think about it, people have been wondering that since my college years.
Of course, I didn’t help matters by hardly ever giving a proper answer. Let them speculate, was my thought. At least they’d nag me less about dating.
“I’m very interested to see what kind of person you’ll end up with.”
This comment usually comes from people who know me as a person with zero interests. Because you know, I let them believe that.
To be fair, when I was still a stubbornly private person, I didn’t know what I liked either. I have a better idea of what I like now, but even then, I’m not the type to purposefully hunt for a partner. If it happens, it happens.
“You’re going to marry a workaholic.”
“The guy you’ll end up with will either work as much as or even more than you.”
“I can’t imagine you being interested in someone who doesn’t at least work as hard as you do.”
Etc, etc… Not going to lie, the thought of ending up with a husband who is barely home freaks me out, but I don’t think these assessments are wrong either. I just have to look at my track record of recent guys I was interested in… One worked 7 days a week for months on end, with the rare 6-day week whenever he was lucky. So…
I seriously don’t see myself liking a guy who is complacent and lazy about his career, so I’ll just have to hope whatever poor sod I end up with (if any) doesn’t have some job with brutal hours.
But then again, with the way things are now, everyone is a bit of a workaholic, aren’t they?
