Today my cousin Iris took me to Williamsburg for some gawking and shopping. We were making our way towards the main thoroughfare, when suddenly, two unpleasant things happened in rapid succession. First, a branch somehow managed to dislocate itself from a tree, fell right as we were passing underneath, and hit both of us in the head. It was the slapstick comic gold. As we were rubbing our heads, we passed a couple construction workers on the side of the road. One of them leered and said, "Ni hao."
We'd been hit by a double whammy. Still reeling from the shock of the fallen branch, my temper flared at his racially charged greeting. Not only was it an unwelcomed, sexually motivated greeting, but it was an incorrect assumption of racial identity. If you choose to holler in the language of the motherland, at least make it the right one.
This isn't the first time I've heard ni hao. Not only did I endure it once already during my trip, but I've also experienced it right in front of my office in LA. I work smack in the heart of Hollywood, which boasts an impressive parade of freaks. Among them are the people who are paid to recruit tourists to the celebrity home tours, Madame Tussaud's, etc (see pic). In an effort to bait who they think is a Chinese tourist, I've gotten ni haoed on multiple occasions.
What is it about the greeting that bothers me so much? Part of it is being mistaken for a tourist. Part of it is being assumed to be Chinese. But most of it is the way in which it's uttered. Whether it's meant to be a catcall or a hook, it's delivered in a predatory and condescending tone. Using an assumed race for someone else's purposes leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
And for the record, it's ahn young.
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