Wow! I skimmed through the article and legitimately thought it was an onion article until I read your comment.

I like trying to figure it out. It’s one of my favorite things about Lemmy that I can find non US focused communities.

I completely understand. I’ve caught myself saying to my fiance “that’s a work truck” a lot whenever I see trucks I like. I drive a truck that I use for work. My definition of a work truck is a lot like mine, not a small bed, if there is a lift it’s for function, not looks so unless you know what you’re looking at you don’t notice it. It’s got a single or extended cab and it’s got some dings and scratches. If you don’t know the size of the bed in your truck you don’t use it enough. I haul sheets of plywood and drywall often and an 8ft bed would be great but my 6.5 does the job just fine. I’m changing jobs so I don’t know if I’ll need it anymore but that truck was my livelihood for a long time.

Is there such a thing as a 22ft long truck? I sure as fuck hope not and now I’m afraid to look it up. My guess is they were towing a trailer.

Thank you!

Yep, I completely agree. It’s not so much an insult because you think less of the people you’re being mistaken for. It’s an insult that someone would be so ignorant? Racist? That to them color was the only distinguishing characteristic. I found it offensive when they would call the Guatemalans Mexican or literally any brown person. I’m Mexican btw. When I pointed it out it was always dismissed too.

I think I know how your dad feels. Growing up in West Coast US I didn’t understand why central Americans had such animosity towards being compared or mistaken as Mexican. Then I moved to the south. To my co workers every brown person was Mexican. “hey go ask your little amigo xy or z” was common. “what little amigo?” " The Mexican who’s got the keys to the gate" “I don’t know that guy. Also, he’s Guatemalan. See that flag hanging from his car? It’s a Guatemalan flag” I didn’t piss me off, but it made me feel a way I haven’t felt before and it’s not positive. I now get triggered when people just assume I’m Mexican. It says a lot about them and it’s not good.

asking about ancestry is a good way. I’ve been asked during the first conversation and it hasn’t bothered me. It helped that it was a deep conversation and the topic was somewhat relevant. It makes all the difference if someone is trying to get to know you. I understand I look ethnically ambiguous and if I were trying to get to know me I’d be curious too.

I lived in Tennessee for a few years. I’ve never been greeted so many times with “do you speak English?” Sometimes I’d just be like “nah!” And walk away.

It’s different for everyone. For me, I don’t like it when strangers ask so I don’t ask when I’m the one who is curious. If it’s friends or someone getting to know me, it doesn’t matter how it’s asked. I do not mind. If I’m handing you a beer and say " that’ll be x dollars." And you respond by asking where I’m from, it bothers me. It’s the difference between getting to know someone and trying to fit them in a box. I get that sometimes people are curious but not every curiosity has to be satisfied. When I tell them that I’m from US it’s common to be followed by “fine! Where are your parents from?” That’s just weird. I’d never approach a stranger and ask about their parents.

Lemmy, reddit is more active and has more content but Lemmy will get there. The front page is awful now. It’s full of ads and suggested crap. I subscribed to things for a reason. I liked seeing posts I cared about. This shoving content down my throat approach curiously made me get off the site sooner.

The black Panthers tried that. Not saying it shouldn’t be done again but let’s learn from what happened to them.