"Do you know that you have a curler in your hair?" some ask me. And sometimes I'd really love to answer: of course I do, you idiot, duh!! But no, I'm not rude (though sometimes I'd love to), I'm actually very nice, so I just plainly say "yes I do".
Heck, that's none of their business! Do they say similar things to African-American teenagers that wear some kind of comb in their afros? (I forgot the name of those combs, I saw how they are called the other day in Boondocks but didn't memorize it) Of course not! (I hope not!) So why do they say that to me? I want to think they do it with the best of intentions in mind. But still, why? Because I'm a woman, a brownie, a small defenseless brownie (or so they think)? Why is it that they feel compelled to tell me that? Because of a genuine will to help, or because they feel superior (see that poor little Indian, doesn't even know she's wearing a curler!) and thus have to tell me?
¡¡Que metiches!!
They warn me that I have a curler in my hair as if I was stupid enough to not know that I had put on one on purpose. But even if I had actually forgotten about it, so what? Isn't this supposed to be a country full with 'independent' and 'very individualistic' people? The land of the so called 'self-made man'. The land where under the motto 'let's not intervene in their lives' they just plainly don't help you even if you are a newcomer and don't even know how to buy tickets for the local bus? Land full of contradictions I'd say. (Did somebody say hypocresies?)
Yesterday, I heard the latest incarnation of 'do you know that you have a curler in your hair?'. I was walking to the office and when I crossed a street I suddenly heard somebody calling me and asking if I wanted a ride to the office. I agreed and as soon as I got into her car she poped the question. But this time and given I have met her for about six months already (and that she seems nice) besides only saying 'yes, I do', I also asked her 'why do you ask that, is it too weird for you?'. She replied 'yes it is weird, I thing this kind of thing was much more frequent fifty years ago'. Then she added 'fifty years ago was a joke, please smile'.
Ok, here's the deal, I'm Native-American (Aztec to be more precise), my hair is totally straight and there's no way in hell that out of this straightness I'm going to get even the smaller curls. I understood this a long time ago. And I love my hair. This is the main reason why I haven't tried to artificially curl it (with chemicals, eeww!) But, but ... the hair in my forehead is different and I, vain as I am, love to have it slightly curly. Thus I used the curler in my forehead. This is what is so weird for some people.
Might I say that the only people that have warned me about the curler in my hair are white women? Why would that be? Don't know but it's true. Now, I have to clarify that not all white women say this to me but all the ones that have happen to be white.
Some years ago when I was in the dressing room of a theater preparing for a dance performance an African-American dancer did notice my curler but she only said "hey, that's cute, I hadn't seen a curler in ages!" Of course she hasn't, she doesn't need them. But, I didn't feel the same intrusiveness I feel whenever white women warn me with he infamous question. She didn't say "do you know ...?" She took for granted that I knew, which was correct because I did know.
I have to accept that the sight of women walking around in the streets with curlers in their hair might be weird, but hey, this is Berkeley, nothing to do with Kansas or things like that (also note that I remove the curler as soon as I get about four blocks from the office building). And hey, I've seen weirder things here than sporting a simple, small an innocent curler in the forehead, such as: white women in bikini laying down in a lawn next to the sidewalk, taking sun as if they were in the beach ... only the temperatures are not that good for taking sun: 60 or so fahrenheit degrees. Fact is, whenever (most) white people see a little bit of sun they immediately go nutts and want to show their skins asap!
I don't tell them anything, if they want to show their skins, that's their businesses. Same way, if I want to wear a curler in my hair that's my business, que no? Así que pinches güeras metiches no se metan en lo que no las llaman.
