so not too long ago i was riding the #3 train south out of Harlem, staring into my ipod the way all new yorkers do, when i was rudely interrupted by a scuzzy frizzy-haired hobo screaming at the top of his lungs.
“PENNEEEZ NICKELS QUARTERS DIMES!” he snarled as he shuffled through the train. “I’LL TAKE ANYTHING! PENNEEZ NICKELS QUARTERS DIMES!”
it didn’t take long for him to traverse the length of the car, and i was a little startled when he came upon me and paused. “PENNEEZ NICKELS QUARTERS DIMES!” he said before giving me a once-over. he looked me coolly in the eye and seemed to pause for a moment before turning to shout at his larger audience. “I’LL EVEN TAKE FORTUNE COOKIES!” he said before shuffling on.
you know, it’s times like this that i love modernity. i mean really really love it, SO MUCH SO THAT WERE IT TO PRESENT ITSELF IN ANTHROPOMORPHIC FORM I WOULD IMMEDIATELY KICK IT IN DA’ NUTS.
just sayin’.
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Jesse! wrote:
There was once this burnt-out white hippie riding up the 28 line Muni here in SF. This line is pretty much always 80% Asian. He gets on and starts yelling at me and my friend about how we don’t KNOW about music, maaaaan. (we had Amoeba records bags from the Haight), then he starts spouting all this racist shit to the Asians on the bus, by which he was outnumbered, like, 100 to 1.
While he was certainly not anthropomorphized modernity itself, he certainly had the effects of it on his once idealized hippie self now turned crotchety and racist. I sooo wanted to kick his ass. Instead, I wrote a story about it. Man I get riled up just thinking about this shit. Thanks for sharing, dude.
Posted on 06-Jul-07 at 1:57 pm | Permalink
Reader wrote:
Oh, come on. That was a *little* funny. Lighten up.
Posted on 07-Jul-07 at 5:17 am | Permalink
J.Peter Siriprakorn wrote:
yeah, it was a *little* funny. next time i’ll tell him i’m fresh out of cookies and ask him if he’ll take a bucket o’ fried chicken instead (the guy was black)
Posted on 09-Jul-07 at 10:44 pm | Permalink
Reader wrote:
I’m sure that would go over well, and hey–even if it doesn’t, at least you have all that martial arts training.
Seriously, though. So your point is what? That you have a right to be thin-skinned about anything vaguely derogatory–from hobos? Do you really think that mentality is working for blacks? Even if they’ve cornered the market on knee-jerk indignant entitlement, is that a goal of yours or something to be jealous of? If not, why are you using that as an illustration?
I’m not Asian, but I am a minority and I live in constant astonishment of how many of my “peers” (like many minorities) take victim roles instead of just letting Things That Don’t Matter roll of their backs and ignoring them in lieu of taking power and defining themselves. I really don’t get…a lot these types of posts. Why? Why are you guys so angry about this kind of stuff? And why do you harbor such blatant double-standards, if you are? I’m reading posts about a Mr. Wong search engine, griping about Asian stereotypes and caricatures, NEXT TO AN ASIAN FOOD MARKET AD WITH A NINJA! And followed up by a post of Ernie with a green card? Didn’t Ernie WRITE the article about Mr. Wong? Who’s the bad guy here?
I guess my point is, I fell that if you took yourself as seriously as you pretend to, you wouldn’t be trifling with poor humor from vagrants. You’re obviously a bright guy with a bright future.
Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the blog, and a lot of posts are insightful, funny and informative. But when you guys get on the Al Sharpton platform, it’s hard to (want to) keep up.
Posted on 12-Jul-07 at 10:42 am | Permalink
Ernie wrote:
First off: For the record, I’m so NOT a fan of people who write anonymously who don’t include e-mail addresses in their comments. (The e-mails will not be displayed publically; it’s just for the accountability factor, especially if a conversation degrades into a flame war.)
That being said, thanks for writing. Regarding double-standards: if the double standards are from the content on 8Asians.com (as opposed to the content of a particular writer) - well, I think “the 8″ here are going to have completely different ways of handling self-identity issues. Some people are going to be sensitive about it, others deal through humor, and in a lot of cases, it’s going to be on a case by case basis. That’s why there are multiple writers, and more importantly, writers of different mindsets.
If we were all the same person, that’d be a double standard.
Regarding your comment, Anonymous Reader: I’m curious as to what the “proper” platform is. (I’m not trying to be snarky or defensive about it either.)
Posted on 12-Jul-07 at 12:10 pm | Permalink
J. Peter wrote:
Even if they’ve cornered the market on knee-jerk indignant entitlement, is that a goal of yours or something to be jealous of? If not, why are you using that as an illustration?
d00d i want fried chicken ALL the time. extra tasty crispy. get to it!
(i’m not really sure what to say here, since the assumption is that i take myself too seriously, which is puzzling considering this blog’s explicit objective is to raise consciousness about the asian american experience. the post captured an experience that was indissolubly “asian american.” frankly, any conversation spearheaded by an emphasis on identity is bound to end up reactionary at times.
also, i’m not sure why “taking power and defining themselves” and ‘voicing personal experience in the shadow of a culture that has historically been very silent’ (my sense of what we’re doing here) would be mutually exclusive.)
Posted on 12-Jul-07 at 3:05 pm | Permalink
J. Peter wrote:
addendum: it seems your implication is that we can’t be serious about the way social discourse marginalizes identity and also resort to humor as a reprieve.
that’s weird to me, it’s like our only choice is to grin and bear it. why?
Posted on 12-Jul-07 at 3:08 pm | Permalink
Kay wrote:
OK…I would like to point out something here for everyone to read and hopefully understand.
Just like cars there are different makes. However the gas we put into it is the same for the most part…that is what it has been to date.
I see it this way being Asian/ Europen/American. By the way I think I have a jump start on you all about life in general.
My mother came to this country right after the WWII, she meet my dad during the occupation of Japan by the American Armed Forces. I grew up as a Military Brat…and lived all over the place in Japan and in the US.
One thing I have learned after years of being with one foot on each side of the fence.
Our minds are like biological computers. As a computer it is subject to viruses, spams and other advertisements and so on while in Cyberspace.
When you go out of your living space…your nest of sorts. You are also subjected to such exposure as a computer is viruses, spam thoughts, and other negative stuff that you might encounter.
Now it’s up to you to arm yourselves with the best type of software possible for your computer to catch these things before it locks into your computer.
Now don’t you think that it’s the same thing when you go home and you want to just want to “chill out” but for some reason your mind is still back there to the incident that happened or an encounter good of bad that you have just experienced.
Your mind is tormented or it’s in bliss…whichever it might be. You can eitther turn that experience into something “positive” and creative.
I find that it’s best to leave things of that nature at the River banks.
Instead of trying to figure out who is the Master Race here just learn to Master your own life.
WE are all spiritual beings on this earth plane to learn some lesson in life.
We all have the same force that sustains all life within us. We just need to learn to Master your own vehicle which is the sum total of DNA Genetics of one’s parents and their parents and so down the line.
I find that if you apply the No Attachment rule you will not attract such behaviour from others. Now did it ever occur to you that being Asian could be in some ways a blessing…as there is much in the Asian culture that talks about Mastering yourself.
Instead of being part of the Mass Majority of the Human Race who have no clue just why they are here…does not matter could be Yellow, Black, White or Red or the Purple People Eater (joke ) from Outer Space.
Take some time to learn about history and just what it is that man has to learn and that is how to become one within his or her self.
Meaning taming the beast within and just keep on evolving around to a higher state of consciousness.
The only way to leave the past behind and to embrace the future is just to learn to focus and articulate that is right mind, right thought and right action.
There is something to be said about Asian Culture and that if you have not figured it out yet. That you need to learn balance of two opposing forces within your life.
Black/White thinking is Ok but when it comes your turn to be a parent you will see that everyone is just a child getting over childhood hang ups as they evolve here as an adult.
Life is too short to become embittered and short sighted….and muddling in the negatives.
How can you compare this to a higher evolved person of color to some lower minded lost soul on a bus or train.
Go on the internet and join others of other cultures who are educated and are constantly evolving. There are no racial barriers to be had.
You can have a place where you can go to chat about these things and vent.
But remember this…whatever you put out there in word, thought or action will evenutally come back to you.
You are the creator of your environment. If you wonder why things happen to you the way they do. It’s because you created it or you also you made some cause like that in passing be it word, thought or action. So it’s all coming back to you.
Now think about that one for a moment if you do not want weeds growing in your garden “so some weeding”…and get rid of the pest.
That goes for any word, thought or active hurt you harbor.
Let it go.
Empowerment is not about power tripping on others it’s all about Mastering your own power within and harnassing it for bigger and better things in life.
Whenever I feel that I am subjected to any kind of mind game or trip. I just ignore it and go my way. I am better than all that. I don’t play games. And if someone thinks they can play that stereotypical game. I think the look on my face speaks louder than words. That part only comes out if I am irked. But for the most part. I embrace my heritage and then I embrace my life. As I am as unique as they come.
And so are you. We all unique there are no two people alike. So enjoy that thought.
There comes a time in life in general that one has to eiether decide whether you will go with the best Software possible.
I say “No Attachment” just go with the flow. Be a parent that you are inside…even though you may or may not have arrived to that stage in your life.
Remember each person is a child within…be it a young kid, a young adult, and adult or a middle age or elderly person. Look for the child and embrace that chid and teach them gentley the true meaning of respect of all people. You will be amazed of the results you will find.
Good Luck!
Posted on 21-Nov-07 at 3:05 pm | Permalink