Karen in Chicago asks "How do you start a conversation with someone about their nationality without offending them? For example, a Lyft or Uber driver. And, if that is possible, what should you ask them?" I love this question because I blogged Stop asking: Where are...
For those who didn't grow up in the U.S. (and many who did) I was in a restaurant with a friend who ordered a beer and then didn’t drink much of it. I gestured at it and said, “So, you’re really not a big drinker.” She said, “It just doesn’t taste right to me.” I...
It's my annual posting of my summary of the History Channel's Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas. Part of our American Christmas tradition is for people to throw around the phrase "the true meaning of Christmas." What that phrase usually refers to is an...
November 1, 2018 was the second annual Latina Equal Pay Day. Before last week I didn't know that Latinas earn less than not only white men, but white women. In fact, while white women get 79 cents for every dollar a white man makes, Latinas get 53 cents. Son of a...
Inspired by the final blog post of Obesio the Loser, a former online-friend, here's a list of stuff I've noticed over the decades. 1. Sometimes it gets better. Sometimes it doesn't. 2. No two people are exactly alike, but few people are genuinely special. 3. I still...
Well, here's a story. Now I'm SO glad I bought that Christmas mantel covering! My new Christmas tradition is to invite any internationals over to my home who don't have a place to go and who would like to celebrate Christmas the American way. I do this through my...
Sexism lives deep in a society when people can’t see it in the words they use.
"The Talk" is a TV commercial for Proctor & Gamble that shows conversations between Black parents and their Black children about the realities of their lives in the U.S. The ad was done by BBDO New York advertising agency and was released in July. Let us not...
FICTION Sunlight skipped off the surface of the lake and pierced the eyes of the dog owners and their charges. "Oh, Dan," said Imelda. "The new laws about dogs who attack people are so strict. Don't you think?" Dan turned away from his Great Dane, who was tentatively...
I've suffered from depression for most of my life and have had a couple of major episodes. There have been times when I decided dying would be better than living and while I'm not proud of that, I'm also not ashamed of it. My illness has caused lots of irrational...
We Americans, especially those of us in urban places like the Chicagoland area, often welcome the chance to meet international people and hope to expand our knowledge of the world. When we notice that someone seems like they're from another place, we ask, "Where are...
It's my annual posting of my summary of the History Channel's Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas. Part of our American Christmas tradition is for people to throw around the phrase "the true meaning of Christmas." What that usually means is...
I don't like sports, but as a 23-year resident of Chicago even I felt how big it was when the Chicago Cubs baseball team won the World Series last night. Baseball is the American sport and for decades the Chicago Cubs have been the losers of the...
My post about (the bigoted) Dr. Christiane Northrup got some response from regular readers, but I got even more response to it when I shared it on Facebook. Specifically, I follow a page called Love Life of an Asian Guy which is written by a Filipino-American man...
Previous post on weight & health: Slow as weight loss National Public Radio's This American Life program recently broadcast a show called "Tell Me I'm Fat." On their website, it's described like this: The way people talk about being fat is shifting. With...