quotes: October 2007 Archives

My dad is a curious fellow. If you know him, you know this because you've probably been on the receiving end of one of his interrogations. He has a wonderful curiosity and need to put the world into a context that he can understand. Lately he's been trying to get his head around Seattle, and Washington in general. For whatever reason, his main focus is on the ethnicity of the people. He asked:

"So...are there a lot of Eskimo-looking people around there?"

I would like to now attempt to follow the logic in my dad's mind:

1. Washington is the closest state to Alaska.
2. Alaska is entirely peopled with Eskimos.
3. Texas is one of the closest states to Mexico.
4. Mexico is entirely peopled with Mexicans.
5. There are a lot of Mexicans in Texas.
6. Ergo, there must be a lot of Eskimos in Washington.

I would also like to somehow export the mental image my father has of these supposed Eskimos running wild through the streets of Seattle. I like to think he's envisioning a lot of very short, smiley brown little people running around in fur parkas with a club in one hand and a dead seal in the other, looking for places to park their dog sleds, and stopping other Eskimos on the street to rub noses and say hello.