Bizarre WTF moment

[Scowl]

In my line of work, I deal a lot with customer service. Sometimes customers are nice, sometimes they're not, and other times they're just plain bizarre. Today it was kind of bizarre. Anyway, I'm dealing with this white soccer-mom-looking lady today, and she asks me a question. "Excuse me, but I was just wondering...." and I'm thinking that she has a question about pricing or something when she busts out with ".... but are you Mongolian?"

I'm thinking to myself, "What the fuck? How does this lady even know what a Mongolian is? Did she watch a special on the Discovery channel, or something?" So I answer, "No, I'm Chinese." And she says, "Oh... from the northern part of China?"

"Well, yeah, my family is from there." And then she says, "It's just that your skin is so white!" I couldn't help myself and I laughed. What the fuck?

[vsoy]

White soccer moms say the darnest things!

"Well, yeah, my family is from there." And then she says, "It's just that your skin is so white!" I couldn't help myself and I laughed. What the fuck?
Perhaps she's assuming everyone has a tanning bed in their basement or doesn't realize that even pigmented people get a little pale after being cooped up inside all winter.

[Dialectic]

She recognizes the Asian ELITES!

[JadeDragon]

Haha, that's almost like the time my dad was asked if my mom was Caucasian, because my siblings and I are quite fair, compared to him. My dad's a cool and charming dude, so he replied, no, it was because his wife was so beautiful that the kids turned out that way. (My dad was also quite handsome back in the day, so my mom was lucky too! =P )

[silkie]

I'm thinking to myself, "What the fuck? How does this lady even know what a Mongolian is? Did she watch a special on the Discovery channel, or something?"


Nah, if she did, she would think that you have blonde hair blue eyes, because the Dicovery Channel Mongolians are played by yellow-face English actors. When I watched that show, that was my WTF moment. I was like, "hey, isn't that the same actor recycled from the Visigoth's segment wearing a fu-man-chu?"

(to all who are about to educate me on the anothropological ethnic makeup of Mongolia: Fuck you. I know. Whatever Ghengis Khan is, I cannot shake the image in my head that says he is Asian).

She recognizes the Asian ELITES!

Nah, I think she smelled the "Man-tou" from his clothes :D.

[theme]

I'm not sure what was going through her head. I always assumed that Mongolians were very dark, maybe the darkest of Asians.

So how she put Mongols = Light skin. No idea.

[ellencho]

I always thought Mongolians looked a lot like rural Koreans. With wide faces, smiley eyes and ruddy cheeks all the time.

[angi]

This thread made me hungry.

And I always thought Mongolian people were dark(er) too. Maybe she was trying pick up in a lame-o way.

[Scowl]

Perhaps she's assuming everyone has a tanning bed in their basement or doesn't realize that even pigmented people get a little pale after being cooped up inside all winter.

I'm not even pale, though. I've got a permanent tan from that Texas sun, and we get plenty of sun here even during the winter.

Well, I've only ever met one person who I knew for a fact was Mongolian, and she was pretty pale. They also look pretty light skinned from those Mongolian hip hop videos that atlasien's been posting. Then again, everyone looks pale in Asian media.

Maybe she was trying pick up in a lame-o way.

<shudder>

[atlasien]

I think Mongolians are pretty much the same as East Asians... pale unless they're out in the sun all the time, in which case they turn medium brown. The rappers all look like pasty-faced urbanites, but the Mongolians they show on Discovery channel documentaries living out in yurts are brown.

Very weird comment.

At least she didn't ask "What are you?"

[minbo]

I'd agree with atlasien. The brown Mongolians that are most often portrayed in mass media are dark skinned due to an outdoors lifestyle.

As for features, if you subscribe to the theory of the Altaic language family, Turkic, Mongolian Manchurian, Korean and depending on who you ask, Japanese are all members. If you don't subscribe to the Altaic language family, and instead believe language convergence, mutual influence and loan words, then at the very least you accept that those cultures had been in relatively close contact with each other in the recent pre-history.

A weakens of this is that language migration cannot be strictly connected to ethnic migration. It is more closely related to cultural migration. The Indo-European language family spread all over the place, but no one believes that the ethnic people who spawned the language family actually migrated to and contributed genetic material to the far flung reaches of the world that now speak Indo-European languages.

[Scowl]

At least she didn't ask "What are you?"

Well, apparently she thought she already knew. If she had, though, I would have just told her that I'm Hojiminese. You know, from Hojiminy.

[averagejoette]

I had one mongolian friend in high school, she was super pale. She didn't even tan that brown when we spent hours frying in the sun playing tennis in the middle of August. Then again, what we think is what is determined by our experiences.
I'm surprised that lady knew, or maybe she just picked a random ethnicity and asked you in hopes she was right. She probably would have been some what offended if you asked "how do YOU know what mongolian is?"

[Scowl]

She probably would have been some what offended if you asked "how do YOU know what mongolian is?"

Actually, if I said that in a friendly tone, she might have felt pleased to demonstrate how wordly and cultured she could be.

Man, when she asked that question I was just staring at her with wide eyes for a good four or five seconds. Still, I don't think that was too bad. The first time someone asked me if I was half-white, I just stared blankly with my mouth hanging open for a good minute, or so. Actually, I think that happens every time. Way to go off-topic on my own damn thread, but, hell.... do I really not look Chinese?

[Subwaybrum]

The first time someone asked me if I was half-white, I just stared blankly with my mouth hanging open for a good minute, or so. Actually, I think that happens every time. Way to go off-topic on my own damn thread, but, hell.... do I really not look Chinese?

I was asked that once in high school. I was just a little confused since i thought i looked very unwhite. She was looking all interested and I said "haha no i'm just chinese, why?"

"oh...[disinterest]"

..........

[minbo]

I was at a friend's birthday dinner and drinking get together this past Friday. As a girl at the event was leaving, she stopped to chat with me, played with my hair and said "You are very cute, and very Asian." That was a bizarre WTF moment. I responded "Well, thank you!", because both statements were compliments...

[theme]

at least she didn't say you're very cute 'for' an asian.

[Scowl]

I was at a friend's birthday dinner and drinking get together this past Friday. As a girl at the event was leaving, she stopped to chat with me, played with my hair and said "You are very cute, and very Asian." That was a bizarre WTF moment. I responded "Well, thank you!", because both statements were compliments...

Perhaps she was trying to tell you that she likes your exotic mystique. You should have said, "Thank you, and might I add that you are so incredibly [insert whichever race she was] that it's not even funny!"

[howstrange]

man i've gotten the .. but you have "chinky eyes" statement a few times after people find out I'm Pinoy and not Chinese. One time we were just kicking it at a bar doing small talk and one of the chicks at our table just blurted it out really loud.. I was like, damn that was some random shit.

I've also had some 50 year old sellout art student insist that I was part white.. l kept saying no, but she kept insisting. SO I finally said that my grandma may have had some spanish blood and she was like EUREEKKAAA I knew it!

eh

[Dirac]

hell.... do I really not look Chinese?

Not in your avatar :D

[Scowl]

hell.... do I really not look Chinese?
Not in your avatar :D

I think I just had another bizarre WTF moment.

[Dirac]

........... I was kidding

[Scowl]

So was I.

(Damn that 10 character minimum shit!!!)

[averagejoette]

It could just be their understanding of certain "white" features, like double eyelids or a prominent bridge. Some people think that if you have these features you must be mixed because the asians they've encountered don't have them.
Scowl,that previous avatar looked like Jared from Subway, and your avatar now...just creeps me out.

[Scowl]

your avatar now...just creeps me out.

Then my work here is done.

[Dirac]

So was I.

(Damn that 10 character minimum shit!!!)

Damn, I thought you might be - sorry, my sarcasm radar is on the blink :D

[Scowl]

Damn, I thought you might be - sorry, my sarcasm radar is on the blink :D

No worries.

And you know, you were right - I didn't look very Chinese in my old avatar, did I? Haha, just imagine a dude with that face trying to pass himself off as Asian!

[Dirac]

Ok, that one I got.

[minbo]

Heh, three weeks ago I had a girl compliment me by telling a mutual friend that I was "very clean". Weird but this Saturday, another girl asked to pet my hair and commented that I was very clean also. She followed up with "You smell like clean man!"

While I do bath every day, I don't see how that makes me so clean as to be complimented on it by two different people. Unless they are used to really slovenly guys...

[Scowl]

Heh, three weeks ago I had a girl compliment me by telling a mutual friend that I was "very clean". Weird but this Saturday, another girl asked to pet my hair and commented that I was very clean also. She followed up with "You smell like clean man!"

While I do bath every day, I don't see how that makes me so clean as to be complimented on it by two different people. Unless they are used to really slovenly guys...

Maybe they meant "clean" in a different way.

Anyway, I saw the "are you Mongolian?" lady again, and today she thanked me with a heartfelt "sheh sheh." If I see her again, I might just start laughing right then and there.

[minbo]

I actually got an explanation from the first girl recently and she really did just mean that I was clean. No euphemisms or subtext. Just clean.

Same from the second girl via a friend. Just squeaky clean.

As for the "You're very Asian" girl, I hung out with her this Tuesday, but I didn't get a chance to ask her to explain the comment. I'll ask her next time, before we get deep into our cups.

[Subwaybrum]

I just thought scowl looks like an Alexander Fu Sheng

http://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/ah7334/fu_alexander_4.jpg

http://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/ah7334/fu_alexander_2.jpg

[Scowl]

Hmm.... I dunno. But I do think he looks more Mongol than I do.

http://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/ah7334/fu_alexander_4.jpg http://photos.friendster.com/photos/98/29/11239289/16366592759578l.jpg