Multi National Identity

i had lunch with karen and anne in metro gourmet and in the middle of our animated conversation (yes, we wave our hands a lot and we do a lot of play acting to emphasize a point during our conversation) i heard someone say

"hi excuse me..."

i quickly glanced behind me and saw an old caucasian fellow looking at us, i turned around to motion for karen and anne that the guy probably wanted to talk to them.

as it turned out, he was actually trying to get my attention. great, if i hear any annoying complaint about my two blabber mouth friends...

as it turned out, he just wanted to strike a conversation and the first thing he said was:

"are you from here?"

that sort of confused me, didn't expect that.

"uh, what do you mean if i'm from here?"

"was just wondering if you're filipino, you don't look like a typical filipino."

great, just my luck, that would have to be the dumbest pick up line.

"i'm part filipino, spanish and chinese." basically the general description of most filipinos whose ancestry was muddled by traders and the white religious fanatics. i smiled and turned around, hoping that it was the end of the conversation.

"i thought you looked like a samoan."

i didn't know if it was an insult or a compliment, i assumed he was talking "The Rock, Samoan Look" except that i had long hair and more facial hair than the  Rock, so i'm probably thinking Samoan the huge bear that dons flower skirts as part of their costume.

"i get that a lot". before he can add anything i motioned for the waiter to give us our bill. i nodded his way and ushered the ladies out.

that wasn't really witty of me, drats, i should have answered:

"hungarian, italian, canadian" and if you're sorta confused, anne had a hungarian sausage, karen had an italian alfredo pasta and i had a canadian honey ham deli for lunch.

that would have stumped him.

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