PEOPLE ON THE BUS GO ‘ROUND AND ‘ROUND
5/17/01 8:20pm CST
The sun is setting and we’re chasing it west down the highway. Miles and miles of farmland, green and brown, rolled out along the country. So huge, is this country – huge and vast in a wonderful and lonely way.
This bus contains an interesting selection of people typically underrepresented in my life. I have this weird knack for knowing peoples race or ethnicity. It makes me feel less snobby, less white, to say, “Oh, Diem, that’s Vietnamese right?” People are shocked that I didn’t ask if they were Chinese or Japanese. Sometimes it’s as simple as a name, such as Jose (who a little black boy just asked if he was Russian). Sometimes it’s an accent, a word they use, sometimes skin color or physical features. It just makes me feel good somehow. We are supposed to be color blind, but since that is impossible, being educated and knowing Chinese from Korean, seems more refreshing to me.
Goodnight farmland, I’m sure you’ll be waiting outside my window when the sun returns.
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