I AM NO LONGER IN

i am no longer in homogenous white suburbia. the other day i was checking something out of the library, and the person at the counter was checking her email while someone else checked me out. suddenly she said, “oh my god! there was an earthquake in taiwan?!” and i replied, in my standard, detached, middle-class “shucks, aint’ it just terrible?” tone, “yeah, about 1500 dead.” i guess i was expecting she was like me, somewhat concerned but, as i said, essentially removed. but then she started furiously typing a reply, the first sentence of which was “i just heard about the earthquake. are you guys ok?” she was almost in tears. i felt guilty in a way, partially for having been the bearer of bad news, but more importantly for not even thinking that this news would be anything more than an “unfortunate incident” to her. for some reason, it hadn’t occured to me that this individual might actually be tiawanese, and that this earthquake might actually have a direct effect on her. in an instant, this catastrope had jumped up out of the tv screen and was sitting there in front of me. it’s amazing how removed we all are, just because of a simple lack of diversity.