Little. Yellow. Different.

So, I ran into a former high school classmate of mine on Friday. She's a spunky Asian girl of reasonable intelligence, just enough refinement to conceal the fact that she's from a nowhere redneck town in rural Virginia, and short enough for even Rob to peer over (and between you and me, a shockingly brilliant set of ya ya's). We talked casually while I walked her to her car about jobs, kids, Facebook, etc... Now, before moving on, understand that historically the hometown in which we were raised has been void of several important societal pillars: stoplights, birth control, and Asians. With the past decade and a half showing little to no growth in all three. There is, finally, one stop light in town today; but alas, as of Friday, there are still kids multiplying by the thousands - none of them proficient in math or photography.

Back to our hero. In 1994, she was the only Asian female in the entire school (roughly 800 students). She was, understandably, somewhat shy and socially cautious. Though she was well liked and people treated her with respect - probably because to most of the simple-minded student body she was not unlike a grizzly bear they might stumble across on a hunt with Pa (If I don't bother it, it won't bother me...). In her efforts to blend in, she was active in the school community; most notably a cheerleader for the basketball team, which is how I "got to know" her. She never talked about where she came from or how she felt about being an overwhelming minority in a small town. It was never quite the elephant in the room when engaging her in conversation, but there was certainly a large mammal of some kind sitting quietly in the corner. I always assumed she just didn't want to think about it or supressed her thoughts completely on the subject (or, more likely, I was consumed by thoughts on what my first Asian would be like). But, as we approached her car in the parking lot, the animal in the corner came leaping out into the light with blinding clarity. Between two oversized Ford pickups stood this beast....

A-fucking-men, little one.