Labels

Label: Aliens attacking from Space
So about a month ago I was walking around the Career Fair at my uni to get a sense of what type of jobs I can do with my potential MA degree specializing in space policy. Of course there's NASA, but was just curious what else was out there, perhaps like the Dept of Defense.

Walks up to the Defense Auditing booth and talks to lady:
Me: Hi, I'm not sure if you have any sectors in my area of study, but I'm going into Space Policy.
Woman: Well we do defense auditing contractors for the government and do auditing things. Maybe you should try Homeland Security 2 booths down, maybe they've got something on protecting the US against aliens...
Me:...My field of space policy actually deals with international cooperation between other countries under the field of international relations...

I gave the woman this look of "I cannot believe you actually think I deal with aliens". In a sense, it was hilarious. But even I don't really believe in aliens. More like I don't really care. Nor am I really keen on going to space. There's lunar dust on the moon. I've never watched Star Trek, and fell asleep watching the first few Star Wars movies. I can't believe she actually used the word aliens on me. Guess there ain't much going on in the mathematical world of defense auditing. We definitely are at a risk of mediocrity in the nation if people think there are aliens attacking Earth. I'm sure they have more important things to do, as wars are fought over who has the bigger d*** (Reference from M. Butterfly) and well, oil.

Another Label: Vegetarians
Conversation with a classmate: Julia is a vegetarian too.
Classmate: SHE IS NOT A VEGETARIAN. She can pick off the beef from the dish and eat the vegetables.
Apparently even in toxic China, Vegetarians still have a snobbish way of selecting who is in the exclusive group.
Vegetarians: People who do consume any type of animal essence with their meal for the sake of animal rights. Which can include broth, or apparently just touching it. Apparently personal health doesn't exactly factor into the equation. I'm sure they aren't part of the Darwin's Survival of the fittest, as if all they had was meat to survive, and they'd try to consume some, they would end up dead because their body doesn't produce certain enzymes to break down the meat. Oh well, one more group of ideological weirdos off the planet.

Au Contraire
Friend 3: So I ordered a futomaki that other time and this woman next to me was asking me if it was sushi. So I said yes, and she asked me how I could eat it since it was so big. She kept staring and all I wanted to do was eat my futomaki in peace.
Friend1's order of tuna sashimi arrives
Friend 2: Is that raw?
Friend 1: yeah
Friend 2: It (tuna) looks disgusting
Friend 3: Isn't it dangerous to eat fish raw?
Friend 1: no, not if you clean it certain ways.
Friend 3: but it's still unhealthy to eat raw fish.
Me: Well fish has omega 3 fatty acids so its better than not eating fish at all (Friend 2&3 don't like seafood)
Friend 3: So we should all be chomping on fish like birds now?
Me: How's the futomaki?

One thing I've noticed while dining with people are their certain dietary restrictions. Some are part of their religion, some from allergies, some from the lack of knowledge (mainly being raised in a typical American household that limits their diet to burgers and pizzas), and some out of random distaste for texture. What I cannot tolerate is when others not only refuse to try new food, but also insult it while you're eating. It's like gee, thanks. At least I only do that to friends who try to buy pineapple on a stick in China (noting all the flies around it), or hotdog on a stick at the Great Wall ("It's rather pink" and "I'm not going to bring you to a hospital if you get a heart attack from eating that"), and mayonnaise. But just don't go on insulting someone else's food when you just find it disgusting. I wonder how they'd survive a suburban Chinese village. Sometimes, General Tsao's Chicken and/or Orange Chicken may not be on every Chinese menu.