what my neighborhood grocery store has taught me about stereotypes
Mon, Jun 14 2010 07:57 AM
| general life, personal, little rock, popular culture, food
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a brief note: i'm particularly sensitive to issues of race. i believe racism is still very much a plague on our society in many forms. with that, i realize that this post is the blogging equivalent to trying to tip-toe through a minefield. i hope to use some introductory candor and humor to talk about a serious and often hurtful topic. i hope, in the end, to segue into some commentary that will shed some helpful light on the issue.
now back to your regularly scheduled program.
i love our neighborhood grocery store. its prices aren't the lowest. its produce is suspect. it's missing some of the brands i prefer. it (bizarrely) plays country music over the speakers. the parking lot floods with the slightest hint of rain.
and i love it.
why? because i'm the white guy. yep. at any given time, the store's population is made up of about 99% black people and then me. now, if i just happen to hit it at a crazy white person rush, there may be a whole 1 or 2 other white people.
and i love it.
you see, there's so much to learn—as a white person—being the vast minority. when the tables are turned, one's perspective becomes much different. one begins to see many things much more clearly, particularly, in regards to stereotypes.
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a final farewell from Fat Ryan -OR- my plan to lose the equivalent of a 10-yr old
Sat, Jan 23 2010 02:26 PM
| christen, general life, personal, humor, weight loss, family, popular culture, children, food
| permalink
hello friends,
Fat Ryan here. yes, this is the same ryan that's been bringing you this stunning blog content since the year of our lord 2007. yes, this is the same ryan that you see every day or that you interact with on twitter every day or that you think longingly of each day. but i'm now referring to that guy as Fat Ryan.
and the Fat Ryan is singing.
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a serious moment: top 10 grossest foods...
here at beingryanbyrd.com, i like to make sure that all my posts are hard-hitting and gravely serious. so, i hereby present: my top 10 grossest foods.look, i know you've all been dying to read this kind of in-depth and personal insight from me and that was keenly brought to my attention today by a friend. she spoke. i listened.most people would never guess that i might just be the world's pickiest
