I was on the bus yesterday on my way home from work. A homeless man stood in front of me on the crowded bus. He had a pile of bags and one of them fell on my feet. I picked it up and placed it back where it was on top of the pile. He took the bag and tossed it on the ground, saying he has a bad back, which made no sense at all because I placed his bag exactly where he left it.
He then started speaking to me in Japanese. I said I don't speak Japanese. He looked at me suspiciously and said, "how did you know I was speaking Japanese then?" I said I know what it sounds like, thinking to myself, "I don't know French but I can tell when someone is speaking it, genius!" But alas, angering a nonsensical homeless man is never a good idea.
After establishing that I do not know any Japanese he spent the rest of my bus ride telling me stories about his travels in Japan.
Would he have told me his exciting stories of the Orient had I been a non-Asain? The world may never know...though I think not.
This sort of thing usually happens when I meet an older White dude between the age of 50 and on - a friend's dad, work person or homeless man on Muni. It'll go:
"Oh you're Korean."
"Yup."
"I was in Korea during the war. Mmmm hmmm. They've got kimchi."
"Yup."
Or:
"Oh you're Korean."
"Yup."
"I'm getting married to a Chinese woman."
"Yup."
