Sitting in the cubicle next to mine was Mike, a white man in his 40s, bald on the top of his head. When someone said something funny, or even remotely so, he would laugh out loudly, as if to say, “I know exactly what you mean. I get the gist of your humor.” He was the first colleague to come to my cubicle and introduce himself when I started working. He told me that his wife was Chinese, and I took an instant liking of him.
“Where in China is she from?” I asked.
“Wu Han. My wife and I went there last year to meet her family.” Mike said.
“How did you like China?” I asked.
“Too many People, and too noisy. But Chinese are very hospitable people.” Mike said.
When it was time for lunch break, Mike came to my cubicle, and asked if I want to have lunch with him. And I joined his lunch table. There were several white men and an Indian girl on the table. One was square-faced and double-chinned Tom, who looked like the CNN political commentator Mark Shields. Another was John, a project manager in our team.
I introduced myself.
“That guy, Peter, was also from Canada right?” Tom asked John.
“Yes. He worked in my team for a while, and kept whining that he needed to return to Canada to take care of his family.” John said.
“I know where the name Canada came from. Those guys put strings of letters in a bag. First off, they took out ‘CA’, second time they took out ‘NA’, and finally they took out ‘DA’. So they decided to call their country Canada.” Tom said.
“Is that right?” I laughed. Tom did not respond.
The Indian girl declared that she watched an opera in downtown Chicago yesterday evening.
“You are an Americanized girl.” Tom said.
“This mashed potato is so tasty.” The Indian girl said.
“You know, potato is an American invention.” Tom said.
Mike recently had a baby, and they started to talk about babies.
“When I am watching TV and ask my kids to bring me some water, they really do it.” Tom said.
“Are they sons or daughters?” I asked Tom.
“What?” Tom stared at me. His stare was cold and made me uncomfortable.
“I mean, are they boys or girls?” I said.
“I have two girls and one boy.” He said.
This was the only time I had lunch with Tom. I felt Tom was mean and full of himself, and another Chinese coworker divulged to me the same opinion. I worked with Tom on one project. When he found something wrong in my work, he came to my cubicle and pointed out my mistake in his thundering voice. I knew that the coworkers nearby, including Mike, must have heard what he said, and that made me very nervous. When I checked my work, I found that what I did was correct. So I went to Tom’s office and told him so.
He just said, “Put it on the table. I will look at it later.”
He just let the matter rest. I remember an author said something like this: jump at other people’s mistake, but turn a blind eye towards one’s own - that was something characteristically American.
I called Kate and told her that I moved to Chicago, and my company started to apply for green card for me. Kate gave me some news too.
“Do you know Zhang Yong?” She asked.
“Yes.” I said.
“He is working in New York City,” Kate said, “He wanted to date me when we were classmates. Now he has a five-year old son, and he still wants to date me.”
I recalled that Zhang Yong said something nasty about Kate. It made sense now. He wanted to date Kate and was turned down, just like me.
I met Kate online a few days later, and we talked through MSN messenger.
Harry: How is your love life?
Kate: I like to date guys much younger than me. They know how to have fun. Middle-aged men just want to treat me to dinner and have sex.
Harry: I loved you very much back in college days.
Kate: I know.
Harry: Would you like to visit Chicago sometime? I will buy the air ticket for you.
Kate: Thanks. But I am seeing someone now. What if I get married?
Harry: You can still visit me even if you get married. We can be very good friends.
Kate: I am dating a German-American boy from West Point. He comes to see me each weekend. He does not like Jews. He said, “there is no Jew in West Point. Because Jews are such cowards, they don't want to serve in the military. They just want to be money managers.”
Harry: Are you going to marry this guy?
Kate: We will get married as soon as he proposes. If I get married, will you come to my wedding?
Harry: Sure. I will be there.
I felt some disgust and disdain about her asking me to attend her wedding. Was she being playful? Was she taunting me? Or was she just plain pathetic? Anyways, if she marry this German-American boy, she would get her green card very quickly. There was something good coming out of it.
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