Paws for a Cause

In California, I volunteered as a dog walker for the local SPCA. Upon moving to Canada my routine was disrupted and I never bothered to connect with the Vancouver SPCA to sign up as a volunteer. This little act of neglect has been eating away at me for over two years. I finally decided to do something about it.

On September 14th I will be walking with the Vancouver SPCA to raise funds for my local shelter. I will be walking with my greyhound Jesse and hundreds of other animal lovers. The SPCA is most commonly known as a place where people can go to adopt abandoned cats and dogs. However, the SPCA does a lot more than pet adoptions. They provide information on animal care, rehabilitate wildlife, advocate for the humane treatment of farm animals, and investigate animal cruelty cases.

My goal is to raise $250 dollars for the SPCA before September 14th. If you can donate one dollar, that would be like SEVEN dollars in dog currency! Think about the difference you could make to improve the lives of animals.

To donate, visit:
https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/SponsorSearch.aspx?EventID=19482&LangPref=en-CA
and type in my name into the search bar.

Or, click on the banner below, click on Sponsor a Crusader, and enter my name into the search bar.



Thanks for your support!

The White Guy

Yesterday a group of co-workers asked me to join them at their lunch table. They were celebrating a birthday when I walked in, so they invited me to stay and eat some cake. There were seven of us happily chatting and eating when I noticed that we were all Asian minorities except for John. The lunch situation made us Asians the majority and John the minority. It got me wondering, what happens when a white guy is plunged into a situation where he is in the minority? Does he freak out? Does he have the social skills to get along? To fit in? To not make an ass outta himself? What does it feel like for a white guy to be a minority for a moment?

I was impressed and amused by John and the ease and comfort he portrayed in the situation. Obviously, he was simply having lunch with his long-time colleagues and he was being natural and just being himself. But I imagine it is not so easy for a lot of white guys who don't have any background experiences or skills to cope with such a situation. I once had a friend in college who grew up in a small Indiana town. He told me that I was the first non-white friend he had ever had. What did it seem like for him to go to a Big 10 school and be surrounded by different people? Was it a shock? How did he cope with a situation in which he had no prior experience or role models to help him figure it out?

I grew up a minority in the suburbs of Chicago. There weren't many Black kids around, so I was almost always the darkest kid in class. There were some Asian and Latino kids too, but despite their presence I often felt like the proverbial black sheep of the flock. I remember the first time someone commented on my skin color. I think I was about seven years old. I was at a boy scout picnic waiting alone in the buffet line to get some chicken. When it was my turn the lady with the tongs asked me if I wanted dark or light meat. I asked for dark and she said, "oh, just like you", handed me a drumstick and went on with her chicken distribution duties.

My childhood experiences as a minority in America defined my adult identity. My experiences made me a strong woman and taught me how to cope with challenge, work with what I have got and how to be empathetic to the experiences of marginalized people. I learned early on that pop culture beauty ideals don't apply to me. The fashion magazines have flat haired models wearing black and silver. I don't strive for any of that bullshit. I wear what looks good on dark skin and thick hair. That means I can style my hair big and wavy while wearing clashing colors. Meanwhile, white women are trying to achieve a concept of beauty that is unattainable and their mental health is suffering.

Anyway, I ramble. The bottom line is that growing up as a minority gives you coping skills to help you reconcile your chronic feelings of being an outsider with the human urge to fit in. In elementary school you learn how to sit down at a table with the four other Latino students in the whole school and get along (Sandy Salinas, I still remember you!) When you sign up for Eukaryotic Molecular Genetics and their are only six students in the class (five of the students being white guys who shut you out of their study group and do all their projects together) you pick up the skills to study alone and complete projects solo. By the time you are twentysomething, you can walk into a predominately Black nightclub in Oakland and fit in. And when you hit your 30s you can sit down for birthday cake with five Asians and a white guy and enjoy the sweetness.