(no subject)
i'd like everyone to know that i really went and counted manda's entries to verify her allegations. it's not that i don't trust her, it's just that i had to know for myself. plus, i felt like it really hadn't been that long since i'd commented. but i stand corrected and offer my apologies for not providing more entertainment to counteract any house-sitting related boredom.
so today i went with monique and her mom to look at potential new residences. we went to this one apartment complex (they weren't interested) and were given a tour by the property manager. he shared with me some insight that i feel is too valuable to be kept a secret. by which i mean he said something so incredibly stupid that i felt the need to share.
we're finished with the tour and getting ready to leave, so we go through the requisite "thank you and it was nice to meet you" handshakes. after shaking monique's hand, he shakes mine. "wow," says stupid white man. looking at me, "your hands are really warm, and hers," gesturing toward monique, "are really cold. that's weird because usually people with dark skin are warmer, and lighter skinned people are more cold." what i took from this was that because monique is not white, her skin has been absorbing and storing heat from the sun, despite the fact that it hasn't been out for days. and i, being anglo and all, am naturally more cold-blooded. while i hesitate to argue against the assertion that white people are cold-blooded, i find it absolutely ricockulous that after shaking our hands, making a distinction between our temperatures and attributing it to a difference in race was the very first thing that popped into this man's head. and further, i'm absolutely confused by his need to share this with us.
i may be taking this too far, as i have a tendency to do, but the more i think about it, the more offended i become. because really, where did this man get these ideas? has he been doing personal research on body temperature variance by ethnicity? best case scenario, he's just a stupid, stupid man that didn't really think about what he was saying before it spilled like diarrhea from his lips. worse, though, was if he thought deeply about it.
i imagine his thought process to be something like this: well, clearly this girl is brown. her people have been working in the bright sun for generations, so, thanks to evolution, their skin has adapted to withstand the elements and is able to sustain high temperatures and long days in the fields. america was built on the backs of slaves and is still fed by the produce our diligent mexican immigrants pick and plant. all of this time in the sun, year after year, generation after generation, most definitely resulted in an innately higher body temperature.
clearly.
so today i went with monique and her mom to look at potential new residences. we went to this one apartment complex (they weren't interested) and were given a tour by the property manager. he shared with me some insight that i feel is too valuable to be kept a secret. by which i mean he said something so incredibly stupid that i felt the need to share.
we're finished with the tour and getting ready to leave, so we go through the requisite "thank you and it was nice to meet you" handshakes. after shaking monique's hand, he shakes mine. "wow," says stupid white man. looking at me, "your hands are really warm, and hers," gesturing toward monique, "are really cold. that's weird because usually people with dark skin are warmer, and lighter skinned people are more cold." what i took from this was that because monique is not white, her skin has been absorbing and storing heat from the sun, despite the fact that it hasn't been out for days. and i, being anglo and all, am naturally more cold-blooded. while i hesitate to argue against the assertion that white people are cold-blooded, i find it absolutely ricockulous that after shaking our hands, making a distinction between our temperatures and attributing it to a difference in race was the very first thing that popped into this man's head. and further, i'm absolutely confused by his need to share this with us.
i may be taking this too far, as i have a tendency to do, but the more i think about it, the more offended i become. because really, where did this man get these ideas? has he been doing personal research on body temperature variance by ethnicity? best case scenario, he's just a stupid, stupid man that didn't really think about what he was saying before it spilled like diarrhea from his lips. worse, though, was if he thought deeply about it.
i imagine his thought process to be something like this: well, clearly this girl is brown. her people have been working in the bright sun for generations, so, thanks to evolution, their skin has adapted to withstand the elements and is able to sustain high temperatures and long days in the fields. america was built on the backs of slaves and is still fed by the produce our diligent mexican immigrants pick and plant. all of this time in the sun, year after year, generation after generation, most definitely resulted in an innately higher body temperature.
clearly.