sorry I've been gone so long again i really didn't mean to leave nutang!

See, finals came up, and I had to totally focus on foundations of nursing and my bible class. After that, I had to pack all my stuff and head to San Diego, where my parents were going to come and pick me up.

My parents were supposed to pick me up on May 15 from my brother's house. Sadly, my dad changed his mind, because he didn't have enough money to rent a car to come and get me. So what happens? My dad has now decided to pick me up on June 18, and I am stuck here in San Diego with my brother and his family.

Don't get me wrong, I love it here! But it isn't home. The worst part: no internet! I am blogging right now in the library, where I am happily updating my facebook, nutang, and maybe catch up on some of my favorite gaming websites.

another thing is, I have really different views from my brother (and sometimes my sister in-law). Call me niave, but I've always liked to see the best in people. But I feel like he always see the outside appearance of people, or one action of a person, and they instantly label them as a bad person. An example would be racially profiling people. We were driving, and this asian girl wouldn't let us get into her lane. He says "asian drivers just don't care about other people on the road". Or if this black person doesn't act ghetto, he is totally surprised or something. Or when an old lady almost hits our car, he said "I hope he goes to hell".

I mean, seriously? And when I stick up for people and tell them that it's a stereotype, they say to each other "she's still young, she'll learn". Okay, maybe I will learn one day that people are sometimes heartless to me, but I do not want to blame it on race. Nor do I want to think that just because they are horrible to me means in general they are horrible to everyone. I understand, the world is made up of flawed people, but it doesn't mean that is it OK to curse people because they rubbed you the wrong way. Especially, if it's over petty things.

I know I mess up sometimes, and blame things on race, or get angry at a person because they treated me wrong, but I would never hope they go to hell just because they did something to me. That is more heartless than what they did to you. I love my brother and sister-in-law. They are fun people, and they are really caring and nice to people that they do know. I am not saying my brother sucks or anything, he's really cool. But he just needs to cool it on his racist jokes and his prejudgments sometimes.

Call me crazy for having faith in people, but I really do. I want to love people like Jesus loves me, and maybe that is why I have so much more patience for people. I'm glad I grew up in a church that has reminded me constantly that everyone makes mistakes, and that I should be able to extend grace to them, just as I would like to have grace given to me.

Well, I have a week left, so it won't be too bad! Other than these petty opinions my brother and sometimes my sister-in law have and also not having internet, I really am happy that I am staying with them. Taking care of my nephew can be a handful, but his cuteness makes up for it ^__^

I think you are very wise. All human beings are flawed in one way or another, but their actions reflect on them, not on everyone in their entire race or ethnicity. Plus I think many people get in the habit of blaming other people for "being rude" or "being ignorant" and they don't see how their behavior is also contributing to the situation. Plus getting mad at people for cutting you off or something doesn't help anything and only just makes you filled with anger. I think you are very wise to keep a level head and not to give in to stereotyping or racism.
» Zanzibar on 2011-06-09 01:19:30

I use the "bad asian driver" stereotype, but mostly it's because I live in an area that is chock full of... well... bad asian drivers. Seriously, they're speeding through red lights and swerving into the bike lane (when I'm in it). In my personal case, the grudge might be justified just based on experience, but it's sort of just an in-joke with everyone around here..

If your brother actually believes the stereotypes though, and doesn't just use them jokingly or on a relatively non-serious level, he's... kind of ignorant... X|
» randomjunk on 2011-06-12 02:38:22

I think that people do whatever they have to, in order to find some sort of peace in their minds. We work with categories, so it's relatively easy for humans to stereotype--in fact, in most other parts of life, categorizing like that is extremely useful for us. So it's something you have to force, if you want to avoid it altogether.

However, you shouldn't have to work too hard to not SAY stuff like that. I understand that most people stereotype, but I agree that there's something terribly ugly about someone saying it out loud. It always makes me uncomfortable.

re: I'm bringing toys for them as a peace offering, hahahaha.
» Unicornasaurus on 2011-06-15 11:44:17

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