What background question?
It’s always such a nice feeling when you learn new things about yourself and slowly paint a better picture of what are your peculiar quirks. I am talking about this because a new phrase has just joined the list of things you should never ask me. The first item on the list being: ‘How are you?’
Especially if you ask how I am before 8 am. It’s way too early for me to know how I feel and the only answer you’re going to get is something about how horrible the weather is, how tired I am, or a boring assessment of which day of the week it is accompanied by a shrug.
‘Ehh, Wednesday, you know…’
And that’s the polite answer.
The new addition to the list of things you should never ask me is: ‘What’s your background?’
In the last month alone I have been asked that three times and I managed to screw up my answer every single time. It’s not even funny. Ok, it is, a little bit, if you’ve never experienced the struggle.
The first time I properly gave the wrong answer was during a video-call, when my interlocutor asked me what was my background and I turned around to check my surroundings. I thought they were asking because I was sitting in a crowded environment and it could have been anywhere. Luckily, it all resulted in a laugh, I pretended I knew exactly what they meant and I was being funny by acknowledging the noise. I am not sure it worked though.
The second time someone asked about my background was during a workshop, at about the same time into a conversation when people pick up on my accent and ask where I’m from.
To be exact, asking directly ‘Where are you from?’ seems to be considered impolite here; so I am used to people opting for ‘Where is the accent from’, or ‘When did you come to Australia?, or the always-accepted ‘What’s your cultural background?’
I’ve just started talking to someone with my same job position for another organisation, we were about to dive into serious business talk, when they asked the question: ‘what’s your background?’. Clearly, as they didn’t seem Aussie themselves, I was pretty confident in replying that I am from Italy. Only then, I noticed they were quietly trying to find answers on my name tag or work badge instead.
Excuse me if you’re asking very broad questions even when the information you’d like to know is as easy as ‘Which organisation do you work for?’ Also, thank you for assuming I’ve been doing this for more than three weeks! Or for implying I should know more. Unclear.
Nonetheless, I was then fully aware of the trickery that is the background question and I was determined not to make a fool of myself again.
Alas, thanks to my foreshadowing, you already know it happened a third time.
Once, someone I’ve met multiple times, asked me about my background. We were talking about jobs and languages and travels so it could have been anyone's guess.
Come at me! I am ready!
‘That’s always a hard question. Are you asking because of my accent, or would you like to know…’ quickly interrupted by a ‘Hey, I don’t want to know about your diploma or work, I don’t care about that stuff. I was just asking.’
Just asking what?! Please, people, be more specific! And, just fyi, it's a degree, thank you very much.
Image: via
Especially if you ask how I am before 8 am. It’s way too early for me to know how I feel and the only answer you’re going to get is something about how horrible the weather is, how tired I am, or a boring assessment of which day of the week it is accompanied by a shrug.
‘Ehh, Wednesday, you know…’
And that’s the polite answer.
The new addition to the list of things you should never ask me is: ‘What’s your background?’
In the last month alone I have been asked that three times and I managed to screw up my answer every single time. It’s not even funny. Ok, it is, a little bit, if you’ve never experienced the struggle.
The first time I properly gave the wrong answer was during a video-call, when my interlocutor asked me what was my background and I turned around to check my surroundings. I thought they were asking because I was sitting in a crowded environment and it could have been anywhere. Luckily, it all resulted in a laugh, I pretended I knew exactly what they meant and I was being funny by acknowledging the noise. I am not sure it worked though.
The second time someone asked about my background was during a workshop, at about the same time into a conversation when people pick up on my accent and ask where I’m from.
To be exact, asking directly ‘Where are you from?’ seems to be considered impolite here; so I am used to people opting for ‘Where is the accent from’, or ‘When did you come to Australia?, or the always-accepted ‘What’s your cultural background?’
I’ve just started talking to someone with my same job position for another organisation, we were about to dive into serious business talk, when they asked the question: ‘what’s your background?’. Clearly, as they didn’t seem Aussie themselves, I was pretty confident in replying that I am from Italy. Only then, I noticed they were quietly trying to find answers on my name tag or work badge instead.
Excuse me if you’re asking very broad questions even when the information you’d like to know is as easy as ‘Which organisation do you work for?’ Also, thank you for assuming I’ve been doing this for more than three weeks! Or for implying I should know more. Unclear.
Nonetheless, I was then fully aware of the trickery that is the background question and I was determined not to make a fool of myself again.
Alas, thanks to my foreshadowing, you already know it happened a third time.
Once, someone I’ve met multiple times, asked me about my background. We were talking about jobs and languages and travels so it could have been anyone's guess.
Come at me! I am ready!
‘That’s always a hard question. Are you asking because of my accent, or would you like to know…’ quickly interrupted by a ‘Hey, I don’t want to know about your diploma or work, I don’t care about that stuff. I was just asking.’
Just asking what?! Please, people, be more specific! And, just fyi, it's a degree, thank you very much.
Image: via
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