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I studied intercultural relations for my master’s degree. Throughout my studies, we talked about issues of race, identity, and culture. Every day, I find myself thinking about things I learned in classes as I walk through my neighborhood. I mentioned it before: I’ve never been a minority in my own neighborhood. And while I do see other White people, Asians, Latinos, etc., Harlem is predominantly Black.
I may be perpetuating stereotypes here, but I have heard it said that often White people have a hard time distinguishing people of different races. Well, I am now convinced that it’s not just a White person problem.
After work one day, I was riding the subway home. That day was one of those rare occurrences where I wore my glasses to work. A Black man was sitting across from me on the subway watching The Fantastic Four, a ridiculous-looking superhero movie staring Jessica Alba, on a portable DVD player. As I was riding, my eyes were drawn to the DVD player. The man saw me looking at it and said to me, “You look like her,” gesturing to Jessica Alba’s character. I smiled, totally amused at the comparison, and said, “Thank you.” I continued to watch and he continued to look between the DVD player and me. “Really! You look like her!” At this point, he turned toward another girl (White) standing there and said to her, “She (gesturing to me) looks like her (gesturing to Jessica Alba).” The girl, obviously seeing that I look nothing like Jessica Alba, smiled and said, “A little bit,” while giving me that knowing, “Aren’t people on the subway amusing?” look. We continued to ride, I continued to watch, he continued to watch me. Then he paused the movie at a point where Jessica Alba’s face was smack in the middle of the screen…and she was wearing glasses very similar to mine. He turned the DVD player directly toward me and said, “See!! You look like her…except you’re prettier.” At that point, I laughed out loud and said, “I don’t really see it, but that is one of the nicest things I’ve heard all week.” And that is when that man lost all credibility.
I’d always wondered if not being able to tell people of certain races apart was just a White person problem. I didn’t think it was…and now have one very solid data point to support my hypothesis.
Continuing with my catch-up, in no particular order:
I started my new job on September 23! I am working for a BIG bank and learning to adjust to everything that entails. Observations (that I can put on my blog–there are plenty I can’t/won’t): people live to work; a 10-hour work day is completely normal. In Boston, my co-workers seemed to have a decent work-life balance, and the office was essentially dead by 5:30pm. Here, it skews heavily toward work, work, work. IN FACT, my first day was a shock to my system. My friends, E and B, were in town and we planned to meet up for dinner. I assured them that I could meet them at 5:30 or 6pm. I mean, how long could they possibly keep me on my first day? Boy was I surprised when I clocked an 11-hour day.
Another thing: our vending machine takes plastic. <<Help me>>
- have been out for drinks (or mocktails as the bartender insisted on saying over and over and over…dude, I got it the first time ten times you mentioned it!) at Gottino, a wine bar, with a former co-worker
- went to Brooklyn to take in the NYC skyline (my photo above), see photo exhibits in storage containers, and eat pizza at Grimaldi’s
- went to a Mormon symposium on Faith and Doubt, the Tenement Museum, and the Highline with wonderful Boston friends
- visited the fountain at Lincoln Center multiple times
- stood in the longest check-out line at a Trader Joe’s I’ve ever seen (tag-teaming with a friend is highly recommended…one stands in the line while you continue your shopping, then switch!)
- went to the NYC ballet
- ran in Central Park (and felt like I’d entered a road race. There are SO many people running there…and they’re all faster than me!)
- have hung out at the laundromat enjoying the fact that I can finish 5 loads of laundry in 1.5 hours…as long as I don’t care that my towels are still damp
- have been on a walking food tour of the East Village (yum!) with K and a new friend, V, where I had the best NY-style pastrami sandwich (and, in general, I don’t like pastrami, folks! Be sure to order The Other Thing)
- brunched
- watched General Conference
- have gone on MANY long walks, including walking the George Washington bridge
- met a lot of new friend hopefuls (I’m hoping they’ll be friends with me…)
- built “furniture” (anything made of particle board can hardly be classified as furniture)
- continued to unpack
- have gotten to know my roommate better
- had house guests
- have been disappointed by BBQ twice (to be fair, I am a BBQ snob and believe that KC BBQ is the only true BBQ…neither of these were KC BBQ)
- reconnected with old friends from high school
- listened to Broadway hopefuls sing their hearts out for a chance at their big break
- learned about the Couch Doctor
- rode the A line all the way to the end…on purpose
- bought 6 pairs of shoes in one day
- cooked at home twice (eggs and oatmeal do not count)
- tried to convinced my body that it can survive on <6 hours of sleep…it doesn’t believe me.
Sara said:
I totally agree with the BBQ issues!! Nothing compares to fabulous KC BBQ.
Katie said:
I sometimes have trouble telling Mormons I don’t know apart ¬_¬
…they are almost all so blonde/light-brown and so wholesome looking.
amybuell said:
Katie, you crack me up!
JohnD said:
Oh, I was about to make a similar comment 🙂
Added your RSS Feed so I won’t read your posts a month later!
Jeff said:
I love pastrami and corned beef (is that the Other Thing?)! You’re not a prettier Jessica Alba; you’re a cross between Carrie Keegan, Melissa Joan hart, and the most recent winner of So You Think You Can Dance (but also a pretier version of this).
I hope you’ll ditch the first-initial-only anonymity; I don’t think it’s necessary for their protection, and if anyone actually knows the people they’ll want to know who you’re talking about!
amybuell said:
Probably won’t ditch the first initial thing for a while, Jeff. I’m sure it’d make it more interesting since you probably know most of the people I would be talking about 🙂 The Other Thing is pastrami on rye with with coleslaw and spicy brown mustard.
Julie Brown said:
Love reading about your adventures Amy! Keep blogging.
Other Bridget said:
Oh I promise it’s not a white person problem exclusively! The Filipinos in our ward here are always saying how we white people all look alike. Nice compliment about Jessica Alba, though. 🙂
brittlewis said:
Delighted you are blogging your adventures in the city! That is quite a list of things you have done, Amy. Nice work! I am pleased I made it in the post. 🙂
ashley said:
You’ve been BUSY. When are you visiting Boston next?
liz johnson said:
You went to the Givens/Bushman event?!?!?! I AM SO SO JEALOUS. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!
amybuell said:
Liz, it was pretty great. The only problem: I was exhausted and could not stay awake. I was able to catch most of Fiona’s talk and loved SO much of what she said. We missed Bushman (arrived late) and, due to some environmental factors (they had way more people than they anticipated…so I was in the back, of a long narrow room, the audio was difficult to hear…THEN the AC would kick in and mask everything, and did I mention I was tired?!) made it really hard to catch most of Terryl’s talk.
If you can track down someone’s notes on it, it would be worthwhile!
valeriefunk176 said:
I loved reading this catch up! Good to know I have another friend in NYC to visit. 🙂 I’m curious about the blog title… do you plan to only be there 52 weeks, or was it just a catchy thing?
amybuell said:
I’m here indefinitely, but my goal is to update at least once a week (already behind). AND it was all I could come up with when setting it up. As others have pointed out, it could be a 52 Week Sin, too…. 🙂
Matthew said:
All you’ll need to do after the first 52 weeks are up is begin a new blog called ‘Another 52 weeks in NYC’. It’s like a blog sequel…and it’s all about sequels these days.
Siobhan said:
I love your blog! Yeah the IRS calculator is the devil. We owed $7k one year because of it. That ended my DIY taxes phase…
LeeAnn said:
Amy, Amy, Amy, relax girl. Take some down time! I know it isn’t in your blood. You didn’t get it from me BTW. Love reading your adventures.
Jess said:
This is adorable!!!! If you do end up leaving NY in 52 weeks you certainly won’t have any regrets. Not as far as things left undone, anyway. You might already regret not getting that guy on the subway’s number . . . pretty sure it was some bff potential. 🙂