When I was a kid I used to live in a predominantly white neighborhood—
mostly Portuguese, Italians and Polish.
Having only lived in Canada for a few years,
I was still getting used to the different cultures that made up my school,
and as a kid, I gotta admit I became self-conscious of the exotic foods that I brought for my classmate to see.
You know, I'd take out my rice and chicken adobo, or
literally, what I'd normally eat at home for lunch,
but in a packed container.
And then you got my classmates bringing their Lunchables, like it's cheese and crackers, with
processed ham and sometimes they put in a chocolate bar, like, what?
Though it seemed like a meal to them, it didn't for me; but vice versa.
They thought I was weird too.
My biggest concerns though revolved around the snacks I brought.
You see, there's this Filipino snack called sweet corn,
and it has an uncanny resemblance to corn pops.
I brought some to school one day in a sandwich bag,
and a classmate [came] up to me and excitedly asked,
"Hey, can I have some? I love those!"
And in my head, I'm like,
"Wow, my non-Filipino classmate is not only aware of this Filipino snack,
but enjoys consuming it like I do? Nice!"
She reaches in, takes a handful, and stuffs them in her mouth,
chews for two seconds, and immediately changes her expression to disgust and regret.
[SPITS] "Ew, ew, eww!"
"What is this?"
"Uh, sweet corn."
"I thought it was corn pops. Ew, ew, it's disgusting."
"You're disgusting."
In later occasions, more classmates would repeat the same mistake even after being warned.
"Oh dude, I love those!"
"Are you sure? I don't think it's what you think it is."
"No, no, corn pops, right?"
"No no no no, sweet corn."
"Yeah, yeah, sweet corn pops. Whatever.
Can I have some?"
[SPITS] "Ugh, ew!"
("You didn't listen...")
Honestly, they probably only found it gross because it's not what they presumed it to be.
The same thing happened when I brought those shrimp chips too.
"Oh man, can I have a french fry?"
"It's... they're not fries."
"Don't lie, those are totally fries."
"I'm not.
I'm really not."
"Ewww! Ew eww..."
"The fuck did I just say, ya little bitch?"