Why do Asians really get straight A's? - Project Gutenberg Consortia ...
Why do Asians really get straight A's? - Project Gutenberg Consortia ...
Why do Asians really get straight A's? - Project Gutenberg Consortia ...
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is quite discourteous. I almost got into a scuffle with an old man earlier so I'm not about to<br />
make my day worse by messing with an old lady.<br />
“ My nationality is American, ” I reply correctly.<br />
“ No, no. What is your nationality? ” the old lady repeats, mistaken with her terminology.<br />
I feel bad for correcting her, but she needs to learn not to be so impolite.<br />
“ My nationality is American. Nationality means your national status, as in the nation of<br />
your citizenship. Perhaps you mean ethnicity or racial heritage, ” I correct her, with luminous<br />
clarity.<br />
She looks at me with a confused gaze. “ So what are you? ” she asks for a third time.<br />
Luckily, it's my turn to go up to the teller win<strong>do</strong>w so I leave her standing there, already<br />
answering her question twice. I wish people would understand the difference between<br />
something as simple as nationality and ethnicity. If she looks at her U.S. passport, it clearly<br />
states: Nationality - United States of America. It <strong>do</strong>esn't state: Nationality - Old White Lady—<br />
for crying out loud!<br />
I <strong>do</strong>n't know why I'm having to deal with old people today. This is the exact reason why<br />
Americans put them in nursing homes. Too bad <strong>Asians</strong> <strong>do</strong>n't put their parents and<br />
grandparents in nursing homes, due to their austere obedience to culture and custom— or so<br />
they would have you believe. In reality, they <strong>do</strong>n't want their friends and relatives to talk bad<br />
about them for putting their parents and grandparents in a nursing home, in order to save<br />
face. Many Americans can't stand taking care of their parents and grandparents when they<br />
<strong>get</strong> old. For the younger Asian generation, we <strong>do</strong>n't have a choice in the matter, since our<br />
parents and grandparents live with us when they're old. But on the bright side, when they start<br />
living with us, it'll be our turn to spank and discipline them, like what they did to us when we<br />
were kids! We'll <strong>get</strong> to tell them what to eat, what to wear, when to go to bed—I can't wait!<br />
Payback's a b*tch. Now that I'm <strong>do</strong>ne running my—I mean, my parents'—errands, I have to<br />
<strong>get</strong> home and start <strong>do</strong>ing my homework. Abject slavery never ends!<br />
I enter my house, enjoying the silence, and walk into the kitchen for some organic<br />
orange juice. As I pass by the kitchen table, I notice a pile of letters, most of them opened,<br />
sitting on top of some junk mail. What catches my attention is the fact that several of those<br />
opened letters are addressed to me. This <strong>really</strong> <strong>get</strong>s me angry. I hate it when my parents read<br />
my mail. Asian parents think they have carte blanche to go through your mail, read your<br />
personal diary, wiretap your phone using electronic eavesdropping and surveillance devices—