The other evening, while my wife and I were eating Kentucky Fried Chicken and otherwise minding our own business I overheard the conversation between two strangers.
Two men, obviously not acquainted with each other, were at the counter. They were both waiting for large orders of chicken to go. While they waited, they talked. In the time that it took for the restaurant to process their order, they both found out where the other was from; (Cedar Falls and Chicago.) where one of them was going; (San Antonia.) where his kids were going to school; (UNI and the U of I.) and why he didn’t really want to go to San Antonia. (His kids are here.) Listening to their conversation I learned about the best food in both Chicago and in San Antonia as well as a host of other trivia. What open, community building, information sharing, dialog between two strangers!
And then it dawned on me, “white people don’t do that.” If that had been two white men, unacquainted with each other, and standing there waiting for our food; we would have muttered a polite ‘excuse me’ as we moved around each other and the rest of the time we would have stood there, bored, and looking at the walls.
I wonder what makes the difference.
