My daughter took a break from her job a few years back and traveled across Asia. One stop was Viet Nam which she throughly enjoyed. She was following in the footsteps of her Mother who did the same thing some years before we met and married. She also enjoyed her tour around the country.
Where is the barrage of current-wave (I’ve lost count) feminists offended by “a man always sleeps better when his daughter’s safely married?” There’s just so much to “unpack” there, as they say. (Actually, it is a brilliant bit of dialog.)
This is 100% accurate. Not sure when this was originally published, but I remember my American friends living in SE Asia in 2003 saying that Vietnam was their favorite country to visit and that being a bit of a novelty at the time. Not really sure many people really knew what pho or banh mi were back then either; heck, I think my Vietnam war orphan friend living in Indy still doesn’t know what a rice noodle is.
When it comes to race and ethnicity, unless it is the person themselves sharing the information, or the information is pertinent to the very moment at hand, like a describing a lost child, really, what does it matter to anyone where someone is from or what their heritage is? Even their genetic traits, like skin tone. We don’t preface stories with, “so there was this blue-eyed guy….” The almost universally irrelevant detail of color or ethnicity just lumps people into “other” camps for dubious and most often very problematic and destructive reasons. Try talking about people without adding labels, it really shouldn’t matter to the story.
A quick story: In my 20s I was a young up and comer in the business world in my first “real” job. I often told my new mother-in-law stories about my office life and things my boss and I did and how great she was to work for. This was back when women were just breaking into management positions so it was kinda a big deal I worked for a woman, and one who was so encouraging me to progress. My MIL was always supportive and excited by how well I was getting on and also was impressed by the progress women were making.
So one day I was sharing a funny chat my boss and I had, the highlight of which was boss’s use of a very identifiable Black idiom (no not the bad word, just a very southern one.) I quoted her of course, to get the punchline right, and MIL suddenly reared back in mid story, gasping in horror, sputtering, “You never TOLD me your boss was BLACK!” I blinked at her in confusion for a moment and just replied, “whatever difference does that make?” And the formally supportive and impressed woman began to spew crap about how that’s just not right, and I should ask to be transferred to another department.
So, yes, I still kept telling her stories about that great boss, and how much she was helping me, much to MIL’s profound discomfort mostly just to keep poking at the portrait of John Birch glaring down from the wall.
My Kim, who resembled Trudeau’s depiction of this Kim enough to have been the model for her, was Korean. She will forever be for me “the one that got away.”
BE THIS GUY about 2 years ago
Mike didn’t feel his mom needed to know.
Pointspread about 2 years ago
Maybe they just want pho.
sto about 2 years ago
I was just wondering if they were going to bring in Kim’s parents. If I remember correctly, she learned English by listening to Carter speeches
Susan00100 about 2 years ago
Who is the woman wearing her hair in a bun??
Couldn’t be JJ!!
Geophyzz about 2 years ago
My son married an American girl born in Vietnam; and no-one suggested they should honeymoon there.
Mugens Premium Member about 2 years ago
My daughter took a break from her job a few years back and traveled across Asia. One stop was Viet Nam which she throughly enjoyed. She was following in the footsteps of her Mother who did the same thing some years before we met and married. She also enjoyed her tour around the country.
Wizard of Ahz-no relation about 2 years ago
My wife is from New Rochelle NY. I…I didn’t feel I could tell my mother that either.
vaughnrl2003 Premium Member about 2 years ago
Plenty of blame to go around. Have a piece of toast.
jeffiekins about 2 years ago
Where is the barrage of current-wave (I’ve lost count) feminists offended by “a man always sleeps better when his daughter’s safely married?” There’s just so much to “unpack” there, as they say. (Actually, it is a brilliant bit of dialog.)
dadempse81 about 2 years ago
This is 100% accurate. Not sure when this was originally published, but I remember my American friends living in SE Asia in 2003 saying that Vietnam was their favorite country to visit and that being a bit of a novelty at the time. Not really sure many people really knew what pho or banh mi were back then either; heck, I think my Vietnam war orphan friend living in Indy still doesn’t know what a rice noodle is.
prairiedogdance Premium Member about 2 years ago
When it comes to race and ethnicity, unless it is the person themselves sharing the information, or the information is pertinent to the very moment at hand, like a describing a lost child, really, what does it matter to anyone where someone is from or what their heritage is? Even their genetic traits, like skin tone. We don’t preface stories with, “so there was this blue-eyed guy….” The almost universally irrelevant detail of color or ethnicity just lumps people into “other” camps for dubious and most often very problematic and destructive reasons. Try talking about people without adding labels, it really shouldn’t matter to the story.
A quick story: In my 20s I was a young up and comer in the business world in my first “real” job. I often told my new mother-in-law stories about my office life and things my boss and I did and how great she was to work for. This was back when women were just breaking into management positions so it was kinda a big deal I worked for a woman, and one who was so encouraging me to progress. My MIL was always supportive and excited by how well I was getting on and also was impressed by the progress women were making.
So one day I was sharing a funny chat my boss and I had, the highlight of which was boss’s use of a very identifiable Black idiom (no not the bad word, just a very southern one.) I quoted her of course, to get the punchline right, and MIL suddenly reared back in mid story, gasping in horror, sputtering, “You never TOLD me your boss was BLACK!” I blinked at her in confusion for a moment and just replied, “whatever difference does that make?” And the formally supportive and impressed woman began to spew crap about how that’s just not right, and I should ask to be transferred to another department.
So, yes, I still kept telling her stories about that great boss, and how much she was helping me, much to MIL’s profound discomfort mostly just to keep poking at the portrait of John Birch glaring down from the wall.
mistercatworks about 2 years ago
Yeah, a lot of people still hold a grudge … against orphans.
Flatworm about 2 years ago
My Kim, who resembled Trudeau’s depiction of this Kim enough to have been the model for her, was Korean. She will forever be for me “the one that got away.”
NWdryad about 2 years ago
Ouch, Mom. Besides Vietnam is a very cool place to visit. Although maybe not so much back when the strip was written?
Eric S about 2 years ago
methinks the cool Mrs D has suddenly got a little senile.
Ka`ōnōhi`ula`okahōkūmiomio`ehiku Premium Member about 2 years ago
Vietnam is no longer a “dirty little backwater.”
kwardecke Premium Member about 2 years ago
So this Kim is that Kim? The story line makes a circle and I learn something new
amaryllis2 Premium Member about 2 years ago
Kim’s adoptive parents are sitting across the table from each other, looking together at Widow Doonesbury in the third panel.