Hello, Sacramento!
I must be back from Hawaii after that 6-week book signing/lecture tour.
How do I know? Because once again I’m back in a place where we all look alike.
The baggage boy at Raley’s followed me out asking, “Are you in Congress?”
Me: Am I in Congress?
Lad: Yes, are you a Congresswoman?
Me: What if I said yes? ( I suspected he was mistaking me for Rep. Doris Matsui as did that elderly
woman at Crocker Museum who insisted I was wrong when I told her I was not Matsui.)
Lad: My friend got appointed to West Point by Doris Matsui and I thought you could do the same for me.
Me: What district are you from? Do you know who your congressional representatives are?
Lad: No, but I’m from the Sixth District.
Me: You can’t do this alone. Are you in high school?
Lad: I’m a Junior.
Me: You need to see your counselors and let them know of your interest. You can’t do this alone. You need to go through your school. Will you do that?
Lad: Yes, thank you.
Scene II: I walked into a doctor’s office in Sacramento and the specialist assigned to run me through some test began with:
You look familiar.
Are you????
I quickly told her I wasn’t Doris Matsui or any other Asian woman she knows. That this was my first visit to her office. She chuckled and suggested that I need to work my resemblance to Rep Matsui to it’s full potential…that I could have the best seats in town if I used a blazer jacket and pretended to be her.
Yeah, I must not be in Hawaii any more. Drivers no longer wave me “thanks” when I give them space to cut in, nor do they wave me “you’re welcome” when I wave my thanks to them. No one gave me their luggage cart at our airport as that local Hawaiian did when I arrived in Hawaii. “Save 4 bucks,” he said, “Here, use my cart.”
When I called for a cab at a Waikiki hotel, the Valet asked me, “To the airport? What? Don’t you have any friends or family to pick you up? You gotta take a cab?” I knew then, I was not a Hawaii local, having to take a cab to the airport.
I’m confused, folks. Who am I? Where should I be?
Doris Matsui…how about lunch one day so we can compare faces?
