Thursday

Blog Confirms The Obvious: I'm White

I love silliness, and one of the silliest blogs out there right now is Stuff White People Like.

Why? Because I'm slightly perplexed. See, I've been thinking I'm white for about 25 years now. I wasn't totally sure, so I recently went through the list to see just how white I am. My lack of rhythm was an indication that I'm pretty white, but I wanted to know just how white I really am – or am not.

The list has 93 items on it right now, and I related to a lot of them. 32 of them, to be precise. I have a love-hate relationship with two of the items on the list, and 12 of them didn't appeal to me at all. So I'm either 34.4% white, or 12.9% not white.

It's great. If you've been living under a rock and haven't heard of it, here's what you're missing: a (growing) list of 90+ things that white people like, and posts detailing why white people like these things.

My white characteristics include liking the following:
  • music piracy
  • San Francisco
  • dinner parties (favourite kind of party, period)
  • modern furniture (function before fashion, but fashion, too, please)
  • multilingual children (my kids will be moreso than I)
  • threatening to move [back] to Canada (performed on a regular basis)
  • recycling (militant)
  • Toyota Prius (love 'em)
  • Juno (fav. movie of the year so far)
  • Kitchen gadgets (this makes me white AND 38 years old)
  • dogs (down with cats)
  • living by the water (it's the way it should me)
  • Whole Foods and grocery co-ops (yes, I have cloth shopping bags, too)
  • the Sunday New York Times (not that I've had the time to read it lately)
  • sushi (love the raw fishies!)
  • Apple products (one you go mac you don't go back)
  • Arrested Development (seriously funny show)
  • renovation (mum, I get this from you)
  • breakfast places (bring on the hashbrowns)
  • architecture (for sure)
  • vegan/vegetarianism (me being bunny hugger #1 and all)
  • Manhattan and Brooklyn (damn straight)
  • David Sedaris (smart, funny dude)
  • wine (Chilean cab or shiraz, or Argentinean malbec please)
  • having two last names (perhaps I will one day)
  • traveling (not that I've done enough of it as of late)
  • tea (make mine rooibus chai)
  • Barack Obama (barry's the man)
  • diversity (the spice of life)
  • organic food (it's good for you and tastes better... what's not to like?)
  • farmer's markets (went to mine this morning...)
  • film festivals (as long as they don't involve 3-hour films about nothing)
Meanwhile, my not-white characteristics include disliking:
  • St. Partick's Day (stupid fake holiday)
  • outdoor performance clothes (no thanks, nerd)
  • difficult breakups (what's to like?!)
  • divorce (" ")
  • expensive sandwiches (I almost threw up when I saw a $12 egg sandwich at the Boston airport. are we really that gullible?)
  • 80s night (not quite my scene)
  • Mos Def (not a fan)
  • Asian girls (I've met a lot of them, but have only LIKED a few of them... it's not a get-in-the-good-books free card. sorry. same goes for white/black/red/purple chicks, btw.)
  • West Anderson movies (pass)
  • religions their parents don't belong to (don't be a poopy pants)
  • coffee (yuck)
The two items that I both love and hate are non-profit organizations and book deals. Why? Because a lot of non-profits are lame, and a lot of them spend all the money they raise for their cause on, well, themselves. (The south Florida gala dinner circuit serves as a prime example.) As far as book deals go, sure, they're great when they're legit. But at this point in my life, I'm convinced that anyone can get a book deal if they want one – it doesn't mean they can write, or have anything interesting to share. And with that in mind, I don't have the patience to hear about your glorious book deal that a) isn't going to happen, or b) isn't going to sell more than 10 copies (to you and your immediate family members.)

If you're thinking, 'hey! That doesn't add up to 93!' it's because you're right: I didn't feel strongly for or against the rest of the things white people like, so I didn't bother mentioning them.

... despite the uncertainties, I'm pretty sure my Ukrainian-English-Italian Canadian pedigree ensures I am, indeed, white. Damn it anyway.

Yet after reviewing the list, I got to thinking: What other things do white people like? My initial thoughts are below, with an asterisk following the ones I, too, tend to like.
  • Nintendo Wii*
  • Medical attention
  • Coach handbags/purses with initials on them
  • Self-improvement
  • Replacing children with pets
  • Pedicures
  • Theatre*
  • Nascar
  • Childcare
  • Book collections*
  • Botox and boob jobs
  • Complaining and talking about how busy/stressed-out they are
  • Mullets
  • Hockey*
  • Dark coloured luxury cars, minivans
  • Wearing socks in sandals
  • Business travel (most often to attend [useless] conferences)

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