The following interaction is reprinted with permission from a mentor. My colleague was compelled to share his true-life interaction after the following post was shared on a mutual listserv http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/npr.php?id=173816975. The following occurred when shopping in Spokane, up from Pullman, WA:
Person on the street: Where are you from?
Me: Los Angeles.
POTS: No, I mean, where are you really from?
Me: I'm really from Los Angeles.
POTS: No, I mean, where are your parents from?
Me: My father is from Long Beach, CA, and my mother is from Salt Lake
City, UT.
POTS: No, I mean, where were their parents from?
Me: They immigrated here from Japan.
POTS: Oh, then you are from Japan.
-JM
Do you have your own story to share?