My head can’t tolerate this bobbing and pretending

It's good to run into an old high school friend (that is, an old friend from high school rather than a friend from an old high school). You get to reminisce about old times, catch up on more recent developments and have a nice little chat. Yep, it's usually a fun time. Unless it turns into The Most Awkward Conversation Ever™.

Maybe that's an exaggeration - it wasn't the most awkward ever. But it was pretty damn uncomfortable. I was at the jerk Starbucks, studying with Legal Counsel. And by "studying" I mean "trying to study but spending most of my time staring at her pretty face." And being assaulted by the constant blender noise; I swear, every drink they make must be blended. Can't somebody just have a mocha and be happy?

I was innocently pretending to learn about the liver and the reasons why I'll need a new one soon enough and a friend of mine from high school strolled up. I won't say her name because I try to limit my use of real names on here (Montgomery, Legal counsel, etc). I also won't use it so she doesn't get hate mail, letter bombs and Rabid-Puppy-Grams (or the less common Singing-Rabid-Puppy-Grams). I don't know what category of friend she would fall under. We hung out in band freshman/sophomore years of high school but not outside class, and I hung out with her a few times freshman year of college. Friends but not "good" friends, I suppose.

So there we were, shooting the shit (literally). At some point she informs me that she wants to get out of Tucson. I'm used to this. It seems like everybody (except me) from Phoenix who comes to UA bitches about Tucson and how bad it is. They come in with a bias and won't let it go. It works the other way, too - Tucsonans always complain about Phoenix and how it is just a featureless big city. I like both cities, so I ask why she wishes to leave Tucson.

I was ready for any of a whole spectrum of responses. I've heard them all. "Tucson is dirty" "Tucson is too small" "The traffic is horrible" "My hair is on fire" "There are no In n Outs" "You can't make as much money." Anybody in Arizona has probably heard all those things, so i was just waiting for any number of stock responses. But i didn't get a stock response. Not at all.

The answer I was given? "There are too many Mexicans." It totally blew me out of the water. I was sitting there preparing for a bear attack and a ninja snuck up right behind me and hit me with a burning cross. How do you respond to that?? If you're Montgomery, you stammer out something like, "Um...okay." Legal Counsel later informed me that upon hearing the racism, my eyes started rolling around in my skull. I had no idea how to respond - normally I'd chide/mock/steal the kidneys of the person, but it was a friend I hadn't seen in a while.

She acknowledged that she has become a racist, not that it makes anything better. She said it is because of all the rude Mexican customers where she works. But she then described all the rude non-Mexican customers she has. It doesn't make any sense, but I suppose that's the nature of racism. I really felt uncomfortable for the rest of the conversation and kind of just coasted through the rest. Needless to say it ruined my perception of her forever. I guess I can appreciate the candor, but come on. Who says that to somebody that haven't seen in three or four years? It would be amusing if it wasn't so sad...

At the end, she gave me a hug. I don't think I've ever been hugged by a racist before. Is it contagious? It just added to the whole uncomfortable situation. I didn't really return the hug, partially because of the conversation and partially because I never know what to do when hugged by a lady friend. Legal Counsel commented on it as soon as my friend was gone. I've just been accustomed to girls hugging me as the leave. I figured it was a girl thing to do, since I never initiate and neither do my guy friends. But Legal Counsel says she doesn't hug her guy friends, and I'm much more inclined to believe she represents "normal" human behavior. What does everybody else think: girls hugging guys - normal or not?


When I was talking with my racist friend, her working boyfriend threw a rolled up napkin at her. My guess is that he was getting jealous that she was talking to a boy. Hilarious. i wonder if he's a racist too? Can you have a racist/non-racist relationship?