The Right Answer.

Interesting thing happened to me today at the salon.

So I go with friends to have things done at the salon we always go to, where most of the ladies are Filipinos. We've been going there for most of our nails and eyebrows for a while now, so the ladies know us, they know our stories, our backgrounds, etc.

I'm always mistaken for a non-Filipino. Sometimes, Filipinos come up to me asking me where I'm from, because they kinda feel that I'm Filipino, but aren't so sure. Other times, they just assume I'm Saudi or Malay. That's when it's funny, because they start talking about me and I understand everything they say. (I heart gossip.)

So this one customer, who was Filipina, starts gossiping about me and my friends. She was saying something about how "our kind" (Saudi girls) are too lazy to groom ourselves, how bratty we are, etc.

The manicure lady shushes her quickly. "Shh, shh," she says. "This one's Filipina, no! She understands you!" pointing at me.

"Humph, I don't believe it," the customer says in Tagalog. Then she turns to me and goes, "You are Filipina? Really?" in English.

I reply to her in Tagalog and say, quite proudly, that yes, I am. My parents are from so-and-so.

"Humph," she says now in Tagalog. "So your amo (employer) is nice to you, ha? They treat you like you're a human being, I can see." She points at my friend's mom.

For a minute, I was very confused. I thought, maybe the ladies told her what I do? How does she know who my employer is?

When I finally realized what she meant, I was equal parts embarrassed, pissed off, and indignant. I wanted to say, "Excuse me, they can be YOUR employers, not mine." Or, "I earn THIS MUCH." Or, "I was educated at THIS UNIVERSITY." Or, "THIS IS MY LAST NAME, so watch your mouth."

How insecure am I? So she thought I was a housemaid. There were so many defensive things I wanted to tell her, about how I'm "so much better" than a housemaid. I was insulted that she would think I was one. Do I LOOK like I'm someone's housemaid? Etc.

But what's wrong with being a housemaid? I have 2 friends whose moms work as housemaids to feed their families. They work hard, they earn money, and they are respectable people. They are good people. If I were to be compared to them, I should be proud.

I'm embarrassed by my reaction, even though I didn't show it. At the time, I merely laughed at the lady and said in Tagalog, "No, no, darling," (emphasized term of endearment for maximum condescension) "I live here with my parents. (in English) These are my friends."

I turned around and start to walk out of the salon, determined to have the last word, as I was sure the salon ladies would explain it all to the ignorant woman, when, behind me, I heard her say to them as the door shut, "Sinungaling. (What a liar.)"

I've always been racist. Discriminatory. Etc. I just didn't know to what extent, until I got a glimpse of it today.

I wait for the day when, if someone asked me if I was a housemaid, instead of getting all defensive, I'd have the balls to say, "And so what if I am?"