I'm IRISH!
I'm mostly Irish, but I'm not one of those Irish people who have green Irish clothing especially for this day. No, "Luck o the Irish" sweatshirts with the dancing Leprechaun for me. Nor am I "orange Irish" like a school friend of mine used to insist she was..."No! My family is not green Irish, we're orange Irish. I'm not allowed to wear green on St. Patrick's Day," she said around the lunch table more than once. Alright, whatever. Pass the salt.
I'm Irish but my whole life people have offered guesses that I am just about everything else, and most of the guesses, very unIrish-ish. All I can figure is that "it" comes from my dad's dad who was an orphan...he was darkish...we haven't been able to trace him with the information he provided (next to nothing) and I think he must have been something, well, other than Irish, and I inherited it. Anyway, these things keep happening:
Kids in my school thought I was an "Indian" because my mom often put me in braids.
A high school teacher assumed I was half Japanese.
A group of Libyan guys in the student union at college asked me if I was from Libya. I wouldn't even know what it meant to be from Libya! I said, "No, New Jersey."
Working in a Greek owned restaurant in college, people often thought I was part of the family.
While hostessing in another restaurant, a Romanian lady, paying her bill, began to speak to me in Romanian. What?! "Oh! You're not from Romania?"
On a recent vacation to DisneyWorld a cashier at Animal Kingdom spoke to me very slowly and asked me if I was having a nice day . I answered, "Yes, thank you," He cocked his head and said, "Oh! I was expecting an accent! Where are you from?" "New Jersey."
On our way to Montana in 2002 we stopped at a roadside diner in South Dakota. I walked past the other customers as I went to my seat, and noticed a lovely American Indian woman leaning slightly out of her booth, eyeing me up and smiling knowingly. I smiled back and she nodded to me like, "Welcome Sister. You are home now."
Once, while I was waitressing, a guy at my table said, "You're Irish, aren't you." I said, "Yes! You win the prize! I'm Irish!"
Then a few years ago, I met a proud Irish man fresh from Ireland. I told him proudly that I was mostly Irish and he said, without skipping a beat, "Ah. Gypsy."
I'm Irish but my whole life people have offered guesses that I am just about everything else, and most of the guesses, very unIrish-ish. All I can figure is that "it" comes from my dad's dad who was an orphan...he was darkish...we haven't been able to trace him with the information he provided (next to nothing) and I think he must have been something, well, other than Irish, and I inherited it. Anyway, these things keep happening:
Kids in my school thought I was an "Indian" because my mom often put me in braids.
A high school teacher assumed I was half Japanese.
A group of Libyan guys in the student union at college asked me if I was from Libya. I wouldn't even know what it meant to be from Libya! I said, "No, New Jersey."
Working in a Greek owned restaurant in college, people often thought I was part of the family.
While hostessing in another restaurant, a Romanian lady, paying her bill, began to speak to me in Romanian. What?! "Oh! You're not from Romania?"
On a recent vacation to DisneyWorld a cashier at Animal Kingdom spoke to me very slowly and asked me if I was having a nice day . I answered, "Yes, thank you," He cocked his head and said, "Oh! I was expecting an accent! Where are you from?" "New Jersey."
On our way to Montana in 2002 we stopped at a roadside diner in South Dakota. I walked past the other customers as I went to my seat, and noticed a lovely American Indian woman leaning slightly out of her booth, eyeing me up and smiling knowingly. I smiled back and she nodded to me like, "Welcome Sister. You are home now."
Once, while I was waitressing, a guy at my table said, "You're Irish, aren't you." I said, "Yes! You win the prize! I'm Irish!"
Then a few years ago, I met a proud Irish man fresh from Ireland. I told him proudly that I was mostly Irish and he said, without skipping a beat, "Ah. Gypsy."
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