"I'm Not Prejudice - I have an Ethnically Diverse Group of Friends"

Have you ever noticed that it's taboo to joke about any ethnic groups unless you are a part of that ethnic group? Then, it's not only acceptable to joke about it, but for members of other ethnic groups to laugh at your jokes. They just can't make any jokes backs. For example, I have a Norwegian - Scottish background, so I joke that's why I'm so cheap and short-tempered. My friend Chelsea, who has Irish, French, Indian and Hispanic (and who knows what else) ancestry can reply "That's for sure! And you know what else is funny about those Norwegian-Scottish people? They -"

"Hold on now, Chelsea - I'm starting to feel offended."

"But I haven't even said anything yet!"

"I don't want to listen to your prejudices against my people!"

"But I'm not prejudice! In fact, I'm friends with someone who has Norwegian-Scottish ancestry."

"Oh, well, I guess that's all right then."

It's also funny how friendship with member of a given ethnic group grants you immunity from being prejudice against that group. Which is why there is no such thing as prejudice or racism against Caucasians, because, being the majority, everyone is friends with at least one white person.

The other day, Jonathan, my boss at the Pharmacy, was laughing because even though he's Vietnamese, many of the older Chinese customers who come into the store try to speak to him in Chinese thinking he'll understand, even getting angry with him when he doesn't. Later that day a Polish woman was joking that because she had an accent, most people assumed she was Hispanic. I asked Jonathan whether he had that problem, and he said yes, people have tried speaking to him in Spanish as well as Chinese.

I once had an older Indian woman apologize for not recognizing me because "all you white people look alike to me."

No matter what race or ethnicity we are, human beings are all prone to silliness, and I'm glad that race isn't as big of an issue for my generation as it was for my parents, and I hope it will be even less of an issue for my children. I think it can be, if we all just loosen up a little more and learn to laugh at ourselves and be comfortable with others laughing with us.

But then, I'm an optimist - which comes from my Scottish side.