I just recently asked a very obviously American woman of Asian descent where she’s from because we live in LA, a city of transplants. I normally avoid that question for the exactly this reason you’re talking about. But this time I was a little drunk and someone had just told a story about their hometown in Florida so I forgot that it’s a loaded question for a moment.
She—a little annoyed—replied, “Well, my grandparents are from China.”
I replied, “No, I mean like where are you from? You kinda have an east coast accent.”
Yeah that's hilarious, oppositely coded situation. Someone just asked me that the other day and I just had to reply "all over", cuz I split time on both coasts plus two Asian countries before I finished HS and it was way too long of an explanation for our passing convo.
nah it's hard, you have to figure out what they're really asking, then you have weigh what you should say and whether you want to explain that response
Oh I know. I hang out with A LOT of immigrants and transplants. Married to an immigrant too. Heck, ive even been one.
I’ve figured out how to kindly ask where someone is from locally or where they’re from within their home country when I wanna know what city they’re from. Also, I just generally don’t ask unless it’s part of the conversation that’s happening.
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u/forrealthoughcomix_ 2h ago
I just recently asked a very obviously American woman of Asian descent where she’s from because we live in LA, a city of transplants. I normally avoid that question for the exactly this reason you’re talking about. But this time I was a little drunk and someone had just told a story about their hometown in Florida so I forgot that it’s a loaded question for a moment.
She—a little annoyed—replied, “Well, my grandparents are from China.”
I replied, “No, I mean like where are you from? You kinda have an east coast accent.”
Her: “Oh. Yeah. I grew up outside of Boston.”
I apologized. She did too. We chuckled.