Apparently idiots are everywhere

I'm always surprised at the depth of human stupidity, and it never ceases to amaze me how closed minded some people can be.

Before I describe my latest idiotic encounter, let me preface this topic by reiterating that although I might enjoy a lot of desi things, I am in fact caucasian with blonde hair. Since I don't "look the part," I tend to throw some people (and not only desis!) off their game because I'm not what they expect.

With that said, the desis I usually encounter are quite friendly and welcoming. They usually appreciate the fact that I like desi food, I speak some Urdu, and I like wearing desi clothes.

I say "usually" because every now and then I meet an idiot who just doesn't "get it." (Now, let the idiocy commence.)

After meeting someone new the other day and talking with him, I think I've filled my idiot quota for the rest of the year. This new person I met was a desi (and from Pakistan, no less) but was a HUGE idiot masquerading as a normal person (and doing a poor job at it, I might add). Meeting him was not a chance or random encounter, so unfortunately, the likelihood of me us meeting again is quite high.

The conversation with him started out normal enough but quickly took a turn towards bizarro. I generally try to avoid blogging word for word encounters, but I think this one warrants an exception. Here's how our exchange went (and I'd like to point out that this is our conversation from the beginning and that I didn't skip anything):

Me: So where are you from in Pakistan?

Him: Lahore.

Me: Oh ok, my husband is from Karachi.

Him: So why did you [and your husband] get married?

Me: (laughter) This is a silly question.

Him: (dumbfounded look)

Me: (more laughter after realizing he is serious) Uh...the heart wants what the heart wants.

Him: (still looking confused) Well, people from the East usually prefer to marry people from the East.

My turn to be shocked. I don't remember the exact words of what he said next, but it was something along the lines of:

Him: You know, there's societal pressure for people from the East.

At this point, I felt like kicking this guy right back to the stone ages, but I had a sneaking suspicion he just came from there I was trying to contain laughter and come up with a proper response to what he said.

Me: Maybe in some families...but not all families are like that.

This encounter is NOT made up! I've met my fair share of idiots, but I still find it hard to believe there really are people who think this way. The funny thing about this encounter is that this guy was not asking me why did I marry someone from the East, he was asking why did my husband marry someone from the West.  (Maybe he should have been asking my husband instead of me though he may not have gotten such a polite response in that case -- haha.)

As I wrote about in my Marriage is kind of a big deal in south Asia blog post, people from south Asia have a lot of apprehensions when it comes to marriages.

But...in case I haven't mentioned it before, my husband's family is modern. My first trip to visit his family was before we were even engaged. At that time, they did everything they could to make me feel comfortable, and after that first visit, my husband's father became one of my biggest fans. If my husband's family had any fears before we got married, I never heard about them. They judged me based solely upon my character and personality. On the night of our engagement, my susar (father-in-law) was so happy that he shed a few tears. When we were married later that year, he became one of the proudest members of the family when I became his bhoo (daughter-in-law). And we've already been married 5+ years now.

We also recently welcomed another American into the family when my husband's cousin was married this summer. As I said, my husband's family is modern. They don't think in terms of race or culture, or even religion for that matter. All they think about is judging each person on his or her own character and personality. (And let me assure you, everyone in my husband's family sure is a character, which could be one reason why I fit right in!)

Now...back to that idiot I met. I'll cut him some slack on this first encounter and say that we've all had our moments of weakness or stupidity...and maybe that was his. As for other encounters with him, I've seen him at least twice since then and each time from a distance which gave me enough time to run the opposite direction.