Sorry but life is not always happy rainbows and sunshine and neither are people. So here is a rant.

I love working at an authentic Asian restaurant. You get to talk with your coworkers about their way of life and best of all you get to dress up in traditional wear and eat traditional food. You can learn a lot about a place through food. It's like a cultural experience every time I go.

But for some people, that makes them uncomfortable. Our primal instinct is to fear change. Every fiber of our being strives for homeostasis, down to the smallest cells. But nobody gets anywhere just maintaining balance. You don't build an immune system encased in a bubble. Sorry to say, Jake Gyllenhaal only got to live because he was so cute... in real life he would've died from a cold. Just like Ariel would be shipped off to the highest paying freak show if she had ever transformed in front of her prince in real life. Damn movies.

Anyways...

While I was working a couple of middle-aged women walked in, debating on whether or not they were going to stay. So I greeted them super friendly, handed them menus, seated them, and politely waited for them to come to a decision. As it was a quiet night and I have fully-functional ears, I couldn't help but overhear some of their conversation. After like 10 minutes they decided to leave, but what struck me most was their reasoning: "What is that music? This place is too tacky, look at what that girl is wearing!" Exact words, I swear. As they laugh and make their getaway - without as much as a thank you - I could not help but simmer at their remark. How closed-minded do you have to be to consider another culture "tacky"? You could make the argument that maybe they haven't been exposed to different cultures yet, but seriously, come on. They are two full-grown women living in one of the most multicultural cities in at least North America. You could tell they weren't tourists. And they deliberately walked into a clearly Asian restaurant. Give me a break. Insensitive, sure. Arrogant, definitely. Maybe it was for the best that they didn't stay.

They probably wouldn't tip anyways.

- - -

But to be fair, aren't we all a little arrogant and closed-minded sometimes? And by a little I mean I am cushioning my own ego here. I have plenty of moments like that where I forget that diversity is the spice of life and I will look skeptically at strangers, not even giving them a chance. I mean the reason I can't speak Mandarin is that I grew up ashamed of my culture, that it was different from everyone else's, and refused to practice it.

So in reality (in some weird twisted way) I should be thanking these women. Through grinding my gears they have taught me how important it is to respect and appreciate the differences in others. And through dealing with customers who complain about everything under the sun from when I worked in Wal-Mart, I have learned (and am still learning) that you can't win every battle.

But it's fun to fight them nonetheless.