[ SECRET POST #3288 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3288 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 044 secrets from Secret Submission Post #470.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: I've posted this before, but it's still relevant

[(Anonymous)]

My problem is that I am ALSO a fucking American and have lived here since I was three months old, and I am "from" Massachusetts since I was raised there since I was a baby, but I was not born in America. So when they ask "where were you born?" I can't answer pithily shoot back with an American town. I have to say that I was born in Mumbai, India, but then later at some point have to explain that I have lived in America since I was a baby, if/when they ask "what was it like in India?" (no fucking idea, have no first-hand memories of the place whatsoever).

This causes the next problem: if I explain "I moved to America when I was three months old" as soon as they ask where I was born, I sound like I'm snarking at them and accusing them of asking it in a douchey xenophobic way. If I just say "I was born in Mumbai, India" I have to let them assume that being born there means I was raised there and am new to America and am unfamiliar with American culture, and then have to correct them later, which embarrasses them.

Re: I've posted this before, but it's still relevant

[(Anonymous)]

"I was born in Mumbai, and I moved to Massachusetts when I was 3 months old."

Re: I've posted this before, but it's still relevant

[(Anonymous)]

Or, alternatively: "I'm from Massachusetts; my family moved there from Mumbai when I was 3 months old."

Re: I've posted this before, but it's still relevant

[(Anonymous)]

I'm in the same boat, nonny: born elsewhere, moved here as a baby and grown up in the U.S. If I'm out of state and people ask where I'm from, I tell them where I grew up (Indiana). If they press me for more info, or if I'm in my home state, I'll simply say, "I was born in _______ but my parents moved here when I was just a baby and I grew up in Indiana."

Some idiots will still say things like, "Oh, well, your English is very good!" No shit? It's almost as if I grew up here and have spent 26 years in this country LIKE I JUST EXPLAINED TO YOU.

Re: I've posted this before, but it's still relevant

[(Anonymous)]

Meanwhile, I've met people who are utterly shocked that I was NOT born in the U.S. I should start saying, "You know, there are white people in other countries, too."

Re: I've posted this before, but it's still relevant

[(Anonymous)]

That's why I feel like "Where'd you grow up?" is the more polite, and more interesting, question. For one thing, it lacks the verb "to be", make it less about identity and more about personal history.

Re: I've posted this before, but it's still relevant

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, it's a good question. Except that I'm a POC who grew up in the States, so when I give that answer, it doesn't always satisfy the people asking it because they expect me to say "In [foreign country]." Only I didn't grow up in a foreign country, I grew up in the U.S.