// Coronado, CA

I check in to a hotel. The front desk clerk, Brenda, is an older white woman whose mask is under her nose. She's wearing it loosely.

Brenda: Please fill this out.

Brenda: What ethnicity are you?
Me: What?
Brenda: Are you Mongolian?
Me: Uhh… I suppose I'm Han Chinese? Who are one of the ethnic groups in Mongolia, so…I could be Mongolian?

Me: All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.

Brenda: I like your shirt.
Me: Thanks.
Brenda: What is "Wax Bodega"?
Me: It's a— It was a record store in Ohio.
Brenda: Oh, where in Ohio? I used to live there.
Me: Cleveland.

No response.

Brenda: I like your pants. They look good on you.

I spend my trip hanging out with (among others) someone whose mother is four years younger than me.