Friday, October 11, 2013

Poetic language

Mulan: Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me?
Lucy:  IT'S YOU, MULAN!
Lucy has no patience for poetic language.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Racial generalization

Lucy: One of the volunteers at our school is Canadian.
Me: Oh really? How do you know that?
Lucy: Because she has brownish-white skin and eyes that look more like lines than circles.
Me: Lucy, do you mean Canadian? Or Asian?
Lucy: I mean Canadian! Like Liza Ann's mommy and Maddie's mommy!
Me: I think you mean Korean.
Lucy: Oh yeah, Korean.

So, to my Korean-American friends, next time someone asks you where you're from, just say, "Canada." I'm guessing most Americans have about the same level of cultural and geographic awareness as Lucy does.