Do not assume

I feel fortunate to have spent my school years in San Francisco. For college essay assignment, we wrote about stereotype (that's when I first found out what it was); and we had minors such as Asian American History and Holistic Health. Critical Thinking class was a General Education requirement. I also enjoyed Humanities, where I learned to use my student discounts to go to the symphony, plays and museums; and I read the mind-blowing "The Brave New World". Tai Chi and Aerobics for P.E. were fun and healthy! For the final assignment of my Speech class, I wrote about Hilary Clinton's Commencement Speech at our school. Of course, I wished I didn't drop the Philosophy class, and that I took more arts and music classes, and even business. But studying computer science was not a piece of cake, so the last couple of years I really had to focus on my major.

Even after that kind of education, I still made unintentional cultural taboos. At my first job in Austin, I asked my Indian co-worker: does everyone in India practice Yoga? When he said no, I was surprised. But then I instantly realized that it would be as if someone asked me: does everyone in China do Kung Fu? Which would be kind of ridiculous. Or when people told me: Asian students were good with math and science. From then on, I made an effort to keep an open mind about others. I love to talk to people about their culture and background. To me, it was a way to realize the fact that the world is round, and we are all different and it's OK.

Here are some other things I encountered over the years when one can make easy assumptions/generalization, but one would be wrong:

Being from China, I do not ride the bicycle, and I have at least two cousins who don't ride the bike.

Not all Koreans, Mexicans, or Indians can take spicy food.

Not all Germans drink alcohol or ski.


Indeed, the only thing we can count on is: we are all different, and the world changes.

More on self-peeling apples

I always joke that Jake is a dog with propriety. He only eats food that he likes, and if he doesn't like it, he doesn't take it, or even if he takes it, he spits it out. Unlike Amy, she eats anything, and if we don't give her what we are eating, she begs for it and she is a very effective beggar. Jake's begging is more like: OK, I'm looking at you with sparkling eyes, and if you like me, you can give you what you are eating. There are only some scenarios where this "rule" breaks every single time.

This one time, I was cutting chicken. Jake sat there leaning against my leg and panting with excitement. Amy was right next to him, as if both of them were using their collective mind control to get some chicken into their bellies. I ignored both of them as usual. After a few minutes, I felt some warm moisture dripped on my bare foot. I looked down and found that Jake was drooling all over me.

Of course this is just showing the dog has a certain taste. His "propriety" shows when he carefully choose bushes and out-of-the-way spots to do his business, which I won't elaborate it here.

So yes, Jake is a regal-looking dog, until he starts drooling, then he is just cute and lovable. Don't large, the poor dog can't help it.

OK, back to the title of the post. I wrote about how Jack likes self-peeling oranges and apples. Sometimes I gave the dogs peeled apple pieces too. It's good for them, and it sounds cute when they actually chew on the crunchy apples. One time, I gave Jake a piece of unpeeled apple, because, apple peels are good for us; and he spitted it right out. I was a little surprised but wasn't bothered, as I offered it to Amy and she happily took it.