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Is this a Brazilian thing?
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| Lira |
Brazilians are quite friendly and chatty in general. But it's hard to know what to talk about when you see a stranger, so we usually say something inane to break the ice. And that's when the oddest things happen:
Every single time someone sees me with my fiancée, they feel compelled to list all the people of Asian descent they know. Or that they knew. Or that they once met. Or that may have been born in the same hospital. It's well odd.
Today, for instance, we decided to donate blood because some badly injured kid needed all the help he could get. As we went to the rescue, something went wrong in the process after I left the room, and her (my fiancée's, that is) blood coagulated. As I awaited outside, I mumble something like "Weird, what's taking her so long?"... and a blonde woman approached me.
Blonde: "Are you with the Chinese girl?"
Lira: "Yeah, sort of. I mean, she's actually Brazilian, but her parents are Ja--"
Blonde: "OMG, no way! My daughter's got a Japanese friend, her name is Camille!"
Lira: "Are you serious!? That's awesome, I've got a blonde friend too and her name is Erika!"
She could tell I was being playful rather than snarky, so it's not like this killed the conversation or anything. But still, the punch line comes from the fact that whereas it's obvious blond hair is a common trait and it's impossible to know every single fair-haired person in your city, Brazilians sometimes believe people of Asian descent and aggregates all know one another... even when there are thousands of them. My favourite, so far, was a guy that approached us on the street and said "Hey, do you know the owner of a small bar in Taguatinga [a city 40 kilometres away from where we were] called Carlos Nemoto? He owes me money!" :p
Is this a Brazilian thing? |
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| Silky Johnson |
| I think it's a lame idiot thing. |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by Miss Pie
I think it's a lame idiot thing. |
It is, there's no disputing that, but I wonder if this also happens abroad. |
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| Vector A |
| Not really a thing here. Although there are plenty of other kinds of cultural hamfistedness. |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by Vector A
Not really a thing here. Although there are plenty of other kinds of cultural hamfistedness. |
Such as? |
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| ziptnf |
At least she didn't ask if you knew this person. I think she wanted to make conversation, in a feeble effort to stay friendly, so she brought up something about her Japanese acquaintance to connect the dots.
And here you are, Lira, being a smartass. Man, what's the matter with you these days?
Dick.
:p |
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| Silky Johnson |
| Of course it does. Stupid people live all over the world. I get asked all the time if I know Joe Schmo from my hometown, as if I know every ing person who lives and has ever lived here...or if I'm related to every single ing person that shares the same surname as me. I'm just gonna start saying yes, and then make up a bunch of about what an that person is. Lol. |
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| Vector A |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lira
Such as? |
Assuming any sufficiently swarthy person with vaguely Caucasian features is Muslim, for one. |
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| Lira |
I wonder if people would think I'm a Muslim in the US. I'd carry a giant backpack with me all the time :D
| quote: | Originally posted by ziptnf
At least she didn't ask if you knew this person. I think she wanted to make conversation, in a feeble effort to stay friendly, so she brought up something about her Japanese acquaintance to connect the dots.
And here you are, Lira, being a smartass. Man, what's the matter with you these days?
Dick.
:p |
Haha, to be honest, I made up that bit on our way back home, and Kaoru loved it so much I felt lying and distorting reality a bit here in order to make my point - truth be told, I just nodded and cracked a joke that had nothing to do with her statement (reason why the convo kept going anyway).
| quote: | Originally posted by Miss Pie
Of course it does. Stupid people live all over the world. I get asked all the time if I know Joe Schmo from my hometown, as if I know every ing person who lives and has ever lived here...or if I'm related to every single ing person that shares the same surname as me. |
Hmm... depending on how small/rare your hometown/surname is, this could possibly make some sense. I get asked all the time if I know people from my high school, and even though most of the time I couldn't possibly know the person because of the age gap, but sometimes I do happen to know the person.
But, granted, not many people graduated from my high school, so... |
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| jonSun |
| That's very odd. When I meet someone who is asian. I like to first talk about Hiroshima, Nagasaki or the Vietnam war. Then I ask them if dog tastes like chicken. |
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| Vector A |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lira
I wonder if people would think I'm a Muslim in the US. |
I don't think your skin is quite dark enough to pass the "suspected Muslim" threshold. Spend a bunch of time in the sun and you might, though.
Also helps if you have facial hair. |
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| Meat187 |
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