Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Passing By Accident

This is more funny than useful or empowering though.

I went to the bank.  I was dressed in a girl's shirt and I had my "natural" lipstick and some gloss on.

None of that is important.

My son is renting an apartment from an Asian man.  (And I just had the urge to sing "Secret Asian Man" but controlled myself.)  Once a month, I deposit a cheque into his account.  I write the landlord's name on the cheque and write FOR DEPOSIT ONLY and his account number on the back.  I bring it to his bank and it gets put in his account.

His first, middle, and last name are all scream Far East.  I think it's a Vietnamese name.  It might be Korean.  I'll call him Lam Tho Pham, just because it sounds Vietnamese to my ears.

As I said, I went to the bank and was speaking to the teller, a woman from Bangladesh.  I knew she was from there because her last name is the same as a former co-worker, a lady from Bangladesh.  I asked and she confirmed it and said it was a fairly common name there.

When I finished the transaction she said "is there anything else I can do for you Mr Pham?"

Look at my picture.  I assure you, without makeup I look more like Woody Allen than Ho Chi Minh.

But I guess I passed.  Odd as it was.





1 comment:

  1. My question, passed as what?

    There are so many people who marry those of other ethnic backgrounds, taking their names, that it is not uncommon to see people of European descent with Asian last names - in fact, I know both a Jewish and an Italian lady with a surname of Chen (Chinese).

    My only only comment to those people who express surprise.....

    Ah So....

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