rut roh racism

I'm at a large international conference that also has a job search portion. There are tons and tons of people here, and we're all gung-ho about the same topic, so it's kinda fun. I've noticed, however, an unsettling trend.

I've watched four black people be approached by potential employers, all of whom were from different companies. The number of white/asian/hipanic individuals I've seen receive this sort of attention? Zero.

These employers are looking for intelligent, educated, dedicated people. That description comes in every skin color. So why are only the black ones being approached?

My continuing ed. class comes in handy...sort of

Last night I was hostessing at the restaurant. We were right busy, too. Later in the evening a woman and a super cute young guy came in and I took their take out order. The guy was hard of hearing, so I signed while I was talking with the woman. Mind you, the sentences were not high philosophical thought: "What do you want to eat? What is your name? Order number 77, about fifteen minutes." Then I went back to doing my other jobs.

I happened to run in to them as they were walking out with their order. The woman kept walking towards the door, but the guy came back when he saw me. He asked my name, and I told him. Then he asked for my number.

The fact that I knew that he asked for my number is rather miraculous. That's not really something that they have covered in my Continuing Education ASL 1 class (that has only met twice now). So I told him "I don't know sign language. I'm learning."  "So?" he asked. I mean, we could write things, I thought to myself.

Then I realized that the nearest deaf university is over an hour away; the nearest deaf high school is only five minutes. I switched to writing instead of signing. "You go to Local Deaf High?" He nodded.

Yup, that'd definitely be illegal.

Here's where I wonder why I wasn't smart enough to tell him that I have a boyfriend. It'd be less awkward for him in terms of rejection and it'd save a lot of explaining. But no, I wasn't that clever. "I started learning in college," I wrote, hoping he'd get the picture.

Then he offered me a tip. Sigh. I'm not even going to bother explaining why that made me feel uncomfortable. "Give to sushi chef," I signed. I gave his mom a friendly wave and then went to hide in the kitchen. 

I feel really bad because asking some one out like that point blank takes a lot of courage. And selfishly, it would have been really nice to have a friend that could help me learn sign language. But dating some one my baby brother's age is really not my idea of a wise decision.

Poem?

Under
two cloud streaks
hangs the moon.
Alone.

Adorable

Yesterday when I went to the grocery store I saw the very sweet high functioning mentally challenged man that works there. He gave me a huge hug. One of the men walking into the store said "Frank! You never give me a hug!" To which Frankie replied, "She's special."
As I was leaving, he was pushing a line of carts back to the entrance.
"Goodbye my little love bug!" he yelled.
Adorable.

What's my name?

A few days ago I was working with a preschool class during their weekly trip to the library. The children were supposed to tell the librarian their first and last names and then hand her the book they wanted to check out.
After waiting his turn, one of my favorite little friends eagerly passed over his literary choice.

"I know your first name in Jonathan," the librarian said, "but what is your last name?"
"Uh...Jonathan."

"Jonathan Rivera, tell her your last name," I prompted.
No response. The librarian had no patience for our name game.
 "Oh! I know my last name," he said finally. "Dragon. My name is Jonathan Dragon."

The difficulties of Christianity

Today, my dearly beloved (Asian) boss had some questions for me about a Catholic funeral he had attended over the weekend.
"J, what were they eating?," he asks, holding up his fingers in the shape of a circle.
In my head, I do a quick sort of small circular foods: cherries, cucumbers, egg rolls, peppermint patties...mints! Maybe they passed out mints after the funeral? A tasty little memento.
"No, they weren't candy. They were like white potato chips. I didn't understand why they were eating chips during the funeral."

He was talking about the communion wafers. Christianity is tough.