Being Jewish

In following with my last posting I wanted to write another relevant and recent entry about identity. This is my first posting from Boston where things have been going pretty well. I've got some interviews at some interesting places and I have done yet some more random temp jobs including registering people at a mental health conference, being a typist for a deaf women at a school meeting in a troubled area of South Boston, and spending the last two days doing market research at Wendy's about the Stack Attack (pretty much the same as McDonald's double cheese burger $1 deal but just a name that reminds people better that what they are really eating could be named heart attack).

At the 1st job, the mental health conference, there were two other temporary workers. We formed an awfully strange threesome for participants to be greeted by: Noni, a very large black women, Rob, an old out of luck, unattractive, and stereotypical bony Jewish guy, and me: a short young guy from Vermont. Now don't get me wrong, I love being Jewish-the tradition, the food, the jokes, the history, the community, the fact the religion focuses most on being a good person than believing in one particular thing (i.e. Jesus as our savior, surrendering to Allah, or even God-I'm still not sure where I stand there), and the list goes on. But admittedly there are a lot of bad stereotypes about Jews as an ethic group: big noses, greedy with money, and overly neurotic to name a few. This guy Rob embodied all of these and was on top of our shoulders the whole time. For example, I validated some one's parking and he would ask 3 seconds later in a loud annoying voice: "Did you validate their parking? Make sure you validate their parking." At one point Noni turned to me and asked what was wrong with the guy. Honestly, I didn't know and even know I don't really know this guy, on the surface, he is what gives Jews a bad name.

As I mentioned above, the jokes are a good part but only when, as Seinfeld notes, they are told by Jews. The other day a friend from home and I were discussing a recent date I went on in which I conferred that I had not told the girl I was Jewish (she was not). He replied, I think and hope jokingly: "that's like not telling some one you have aids." Now besides the obvious ridiculousness and non-nonsensicalness of this comment, I hear things like this (maybe not as ridiculous) some what often from some friends. While he still contends that the parallel of the non-disclosure of information is clear, I didn't, and usually don't, get too mad. However, it is some what surprising because even though people are joking, what types of things would they say if I wasn't there? The whole "don't Jew me" thing really bothers me but comparing a Jewish identity with having aids? I just don't get it.