Chapter 2
913 Words
Jessie honestly didn’t see anything as a barrier. She was aware of her privilege, it wasn’t like she was ignorant. She just honestly saw everything that made me unique as something grand, wonderful and beautiful. It was part of what really gave me the power to see myself that way. I knew deep down that I was a bit of a mismatch but thanks to Jessie I was confident that it wouldn’t matter.
Sometimes though, I struggled with myself and doing these little exercises were no exception. After all, who wants to date a Mètis, bisexual, deaf, rubenesque girl. I was curvy, I was a social justice warrior in my spare time, I was angry, and at peace all at the same time. I was hurt, and waiting for more hurt, but hopeful. Sometimes life just got f*****g messy.
“Earth to Nika! They’ve run the first bell! Good luck!”
She watched Jessie run off to potentially find her soulmate at Table 7, while she made her way to Table 12, where a frizzy haired bespectacled man nervously chewed his fingernails. She plastered on her best smile while she frantically tried to figure out how to not shake his hands.
“Hi! I’m Nika and you are? As she slowly placed her drink and note pad down on the table. He stood up and held out his hand. “I’m David,” he said in a squeaky voice. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, he stared down at the card and said slowly “Nika?”
“Yes.” she gave him a smile.
“Is that Russian?” he asked.
“Oh no, it is very firmly Metis, and I’m not going to shake your hand until you’ve used some hand sanitizer it or go and wash them in the bathroom, you were chewing your nails as I was walking to the table.”
He flushed a slow deep red and frowned. “Oh, right, I suppose not.” He withdrew his hand.
“That’s Indian isn’t it.” He said with that hint of disapproval you always hear in the voice of someone that found something they didn’t want in their burger. Like pickles, my heritage was going to be like pickles for him. 'I distinctly asked for no Mètis on my burger!' She imagined him shouting at someone.
“I prefer Mètis or First Nations person, myself.” she smiled, knowing that this wasn’t going very well. “Indians are East Asians. The actual intended location Columbus was shooting for, but he missed. Our loss and their gain I suppose.” In for a penny, in for a pound, she figured.
He flushed a deep red again and frowned even further. “Are you one of those people that feel we live on stolen land and all that stuff.”
“You do, there’s no feel about it, you just simply do.” She retorted calmly.
“I’ll have you know my family has been here for 4 generations.” “Don’t care.” I cut him off. “Look let's just agree to that this one was a bust, mark our cards down and make some small talk like we’re standing in line at the grocery store, I’ll drink my wine, you drink your beer? And we’ll make the best of the next 5 minutes.”
“God damn shame you’re a b***h, you were beautiful.”
“Oh so that’s how that is?”
She noticed one of the moderators walking by the table and their eyebrows shot up to hear his comment. The moderator motioned their head in a “need help?” and she shook her head back, she could handle another five minutes of the guy. She leisurely filled out her card rating the experience, noting he was trying to see what she was writing, so she put a simple “Not a match, better luck next time” on it. She figured that moderator would come and find her at some point and she could share her true reflections on his lack of character at that point.
“I suppose you are one of those ‘woke’ people.”
“That’s our responsibility is it not? To learn, to explore, to ensure that we are inclusive, and create a community that has all types and kinds. I’m actually really surprised we were matched seeing as how completely different we are in personality.”
He flushed a deep dark red again. “Well I’m not having a lot of luck at these, so I may have made some comments that I don’t necessarily believe in to try and expand my luck."
“You realise that’s not how it works right? You realise that what you’ve done is guaranteed your matches will not be a good fit for you.”
“But none of them were already a good fit for me.”
"Then maybe you should look inside yourself to see why you aren’t a good fit for them.” she retorted.
"I’m not the problem here, I know that, I’m well off, I’m decent looking, I own my house, I have two cars, my divorce was painless and she’s not in my life because we didn’t have kids, I know I’m not the problem."
“None of that list speaks to your personality and character, that’s all stuff. If YOU are the problem, then it’s YOU, not what you bring to the table.”
The bell rang and Nika got up with relief. "It was nice to meet you, I’m sorry we weren’t a match."
“No you aren’t.”
"No I’m not, but I’m trying to salvage your dignity with politeness. Nevermind.”
She headed off to Table 23, her next endeavor. Hopefully, this one would go better.
- Writer
