I is the Chinese people

Newsflash: I didn't actually get killed by the party of seven Chinese people who came to get me to notarize their documents. My lack of patience almost killed me, however, as I was contacted via work phone three separate times between the hours of 9:30 and 10:00am to try to navigate the lost people to my office. [Anyone who knows me well understands the fact that I have no sense of direction at all--it's a good thing that Chantal recently taught me that the mountains are to the East. Oops.]

During one of these phone calls, I realized that two people trying to navigate their way to my office were speaking Cantonese to each other, instead of Mandarin which is the language I purport to speak. That immediately brought me back to my deep issues stemming from people around me thinking that all Asian people are the same. Luckily, in this case, the individuals whose papers I notarized did in fact speak Mandarin in addition to Cantonese.

Instead of boring you with personal stories that give rise my own Asian American crisis issues, let me illustrate by paraphrasing from a Season One Grey's Anatomy episode.

[For your reference, the Grey's Anatomy stars shown in the picture to the left are, from left to right, Christina, Merideth, and Izzy].

Scene: Izzy is working in the clinic at Seattle Grace Hospital. She comes across an Asian lady (A) with a large cut on one of her arms and keeps trying to suture the cut while the Asian lady seems perplexed, won't let her suture her arm, and speaks quickly in Cantonese.

I to A: Hold on, I'm going to find someone who speaks your language. [Izzy then goes to ask Christina for help.]

I to C: Can you talk to this lady? I don't understand what she's saying.

C: What? I can't communicate with her.

I: Why not? Don't you speak her languge?

C: No. I grew up in Beverly Hills.

I: But...

C: And, I'm Korean. She's Chinese.

I now realize that this isn't merely a Utah phenomenon. However, having been born and raised in New Jersey, I realize that this phenomenon might be a lifetime battle for me... and that I'll continue to come across people who will ask "Where are you REALLY from" when I tell them I'm from New Jersey, and people who shout "NEEE HOW" really loudly when they cross my path. For the record, I is the Chinese people. But I is also the American.