Monday, November 24, 2008

Not Just a Jew

So there's this guy in my office, and really, he's very very nice, and I feel mean for complaining about him, but...

Oy. If he doesn't leave me alone with the Kosher stuff, I'm going to kill him!

I'm mean. I really am. I know he's just trying to be nice, to find some kind of common ground. Or not-common ground, because he's not Jewish. Insteady, I guess he's trying to find something to talk about with me. Some kind of more personal connection than the weather. It's so sweet of him to try. But I really am going to kill him.

It all dates back to when I took a couple of days off for the Jewish holidays. Soon thereafter, he started pulling me aside when he saw me getting coffee (which is right next to his office).

"Hey, TC, did you know that they have a Kosher kitchen on campus?"

Oh, really? I had no idea. How interesting. I mean, I'm not Kosher, but...it's nice to know that they try. Thanks for telling me.

"TC, some day we should go over to the LunchPlace and I'll show you where the Kosher kitchen is!"

That would be really cool. I mean, like I said, I don't keep Kosher, but, sure, I guess...

"TC, did you see that the Kosher kitchen is sponsoring a dinner Friday night? You should think about going so you could meet other Jewish people from the campus!"

Yeah, well, thanks, but I have to get home and feed the kids, and did I mention, I'm not Kosher, and...

"Hey, TC, come look at the photos I took at the Kosher dinner on Friday night. I have some questions to ask you about the whole Kosher thing. I mean, why did they blahblahblah and when they blabidyblah, why did they bleedledeedoo..."

I do not know. I DO NOT KNOW. I am not Kosher. Not Kosher! NOT! KOSHER!

You know, there's an African American woman in my office as well, and I've noticed lately that there is another coworker of ours who, every time she goes by this woman's office, stops to talk about Obama. It's, well...embarrassing is what it is. Awkward. I wonder where it comes from?

And I wonder whether I'll go directly to hell for being so mean about someone who is just trying to be nice...or whether I'll stop off at the Kosher kitchen first?

6 comments:

Dawn's Daily Journal said...

When I first got married to my husband my family would do that. My hubby is black and I am so ummm not. :) Every holiday he would get all things African American. Books, posters, tapes. We just kinda went with it and figured they'd settle down soon enough. Have they? Nope, not really. I think some people are uncomfortable with anything different from what they are used to but care enough to try to find some common ground.
Now in your case.....did it ever occur to you that maybe he is trying to hit on you cause you are a hawttie??? heehee
dawn

herself said...

Best title of a blog post, ever.

Karyn said...

I know what you mean as I've experienced this many times over as a half-Japanese American. At the risk of sounding ungrateful, I've received so many Asian-themed gifts--like your other commenter's husband--and can imagine people thinking, "Oh, she'll love this because she's Japanese"--as if that's the only thing I am.

Green said...

Ask him questions about being a man. "Hey, you're a guy, how come guys always look at women's chests instead of at their faces when talking?" "Since you're a man you'll know this - why do so many men spit in the street and then look around like they think it's cool?"

Eventually he'll say "Well not ALL guys..." and you can say "Oh! Just like not ALL jewish people are the same! I get it!"

po said...

Isn't there a joke, where a guy says, "I'm not exactly a Jew, I'm Jew-ish." Hahaha, sorry :p

Yeah, I totally hear you. I really love the times people feel compelled to talk about something Chinese-oriented (no pun intended!) with me, just 'cause, you know, that's more or less the same as Japanese.

Ambre said...

The first time Ed took me to his family's Thanksgiving dinner, they excitedly announced that they'd made a turkey just because I was gonna be there!

It was kind of hard to say... um, I'm not a big turkey fan, but those Chinese noodles look great!

So just GO TO THE KOSHER KITCHEN ALREADY! You know you want to. Plus, you have to wash away the taint of all of the Christmas doodads you're getting on facebook ;)