Okay, no worries. This isn't my biography.
This is how the story goes...I'm walking down the street Sunday afternoon, started having chest pains. I notice these pains are unlike any I had ever felt before (I have a long history w/ chest pain), so I called my beloved friend Brittany to come pick me up fromStarbucks. I finally end up in the ER, on the fast track, and get seen by the PA & company.
The Physician Assistant orders an EKG and XRay for your girl. Meaning, I am carted around the ER on a gurney, all while being outfitted in a previously used, shame inducing hospital gown.
One of the nurses prepping me for the EKG asks the question every self-proclaimed, both side claiming, biracial person loves to hear. "What's your race?" My insides begin to tingle with anticipation of how this nurse, who not to mention was super sweet would react to my "race." I go in for the kill and respond "I'm biracial, black & mexican." Just as the "xican" was coming off of my tongue, I just knew this nurse, this sweet nurse with whom I had laughed and joked with for the past 45 minutes, would think I was extremely cool.
She responds, in her sweet melodramatic voice "I don't have that option."
Not the response I was envisioning...nonetheless I responded "welcome to my life." She looked at me a bit perplexed and proceeded to type something into the computer. My race perhaps?
I'm not sure what she labeled me as, I was too busy thinking about all the forms where I NO LONGER had to check just one box. We've come such a long way and here I am in the middle of Saint Louis City where the sweet melodramatic nurse labels me as other or fails to acknowledge one of my lineages.
In the end, I was denied my proper racial classification (the story of my life) and still have yet to find the cause of my sporadic chest pain. However I had a great time making new nurse friends!
Headed to the Cardiologist tomorrow and she BETTA (yes betta) have my biracial/multiracial, choose more than one option!
Angry Biracial Child signing off.
:)
peace
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2 comments:
first, I hope you're feeling better--and second, geez! it's so frustrating that even when asked, we can't identify our full backgrounds. i was wondering about this question --of whether to out my biracial identity to my doctor last Fall--i wonder whether it makes a difference when the doctor is looking for source of certain symptoms.
Thanks for stopping by Heidi, I'm feeling much better.
I think it's definitely important for different health issues. Without getting into all the genetic stuff- all races have differing variation of gene expression between alleles. Which definitely affects an individual's response to certain treatments and medications.
I'd say, go ahead and "out" yourself!
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