(A man is buying some insect repellent.)
Me: “Did you find everything okay?”
Customer: “Yeah, thankfully. Listen, I’m a good Christian and I know God wants us to love our neighbor and forgive others of their sins, but… f*** mosquitoes. Seriously.”
Me: “…” *hands him a receipt* “Have a nice day, sir.”
Customer: *suddenly smiling* “You, too!”
(In second grade, my class prepares for first Reconciliation by practicing with our teacher and a nun who works at the church. The teacher or nun sits in the priest’s chair and we go in and have a pretend confession. The rest of the class watches so that we can learn from each other. Naturally, some students decide to have some fun with it.)
Nun: “What sins have you committed?”
Student: *grinning* “I farted in my dad’s face on purpose!”
Nun: “Well, that wasn’t very nice, was it?”
(I go to a religious private school up until high school. Then, I go to a public school, instead. To supplement my religious learning, my parents hire a private tutor. As I really enjoy math and science, I don’t particularly enjoy most of the sessions as a lot of the material is just based on raw memorization. The following dialogue often happens whenever my tutor asks something that I get stuck trying to answer.)
Tutor: “Come on, this isn’t a hard question. It’s not like this is rocket science.”
Me: “Yeah, that’s the problem.”
One winter, my friend was clearing away snow from her driveway and, due to the nice temperature and suitable texture of snow, she had a whim to make a snowman. Despite being a middle-aged recent widow, she was out there for a couple hours playing, like a child. Good for her right? Very sweet.
Well, after she got the basic snowman made, she wasn’t done having fun, so she decided to test her artistic skills by making the sculpture a bit more advanced. Being Buddhist, she chose to make it into the shape of a classic Buddha statue. It turned out pretty nice.
Finally done, she went inside and was sipping hot chocolate and enjoying her great mood when there was a knock at the door. It was the police!
They apologised for bothering her, but explained that their policies force them to intervene in all complaints, regardless of whether any laws were broken. She was terribly anxious and confused, wondering what she may have done.
Her neighbors had called the police because they didn’t think the snow Buddha should be allowed. After all, it was on the front lawn, “where children might see it”! How terrible that would be, for Bible Belt kids to find out that non-Christians exist. They might grow up to think that cultural diversity is okay, and that people different from their families are interesting equals rather than “others” to be shunned. Yes, let’s protect those kids.
My poor friend was a lot less likely to enjoy time in her yard after that.
Imagine thinking it’s a police matter that someone’s failing to hide their minority status.
(When I’m in elementary and middle school, I compete in an annual school spelling bee. I get very tired of participating very quickly, because I always pass the writing “tryout” with amazing scores but struggle to spell out loud, and I hate having to study words when I could be playing or reading books. I also happen to go to a religious school, so I end up having to memorize and be able to recite quite a few Bible passages. I’m talking with my mother, who is much more enthusiastic than I am about my academic endeavors.)
Mom: “I don’t understand. You don’t even want to win. Think of how cool it would be!”
Me: “I don’t know why you care so much.”
Mom: “Because I get to brag about my smart daughter!”
Me: *quoting a Bible verse that popped into my head* “’Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth–’”
(My mother doesn’t let me finish before she runs out of my bedroom and looks towards the ceiling.)
Mom: “WHY DID YOU HAVE TO MAKE HER SO SMART?!”
