I was standing outside the car, wiping the dogs’s feet when I overheard a voice.
“Are you a young lady or a man?”
Did I hear him right? I continued wiping my dogs’s feet and responded:
“Well, HER name is Metric. And SHE’S a German Shepherd.” I wanted to make it clear that that we were talking about the dog.
“NO”, he responded confidently. “I’m asking YOU if you are a BOY or GIRL.”
I turned to Jessica, my fiancée, who was sitting in the car, laughing uncontrollably. I started laughing too.
You see, I suddenly realized that the the old man was confused by my long hair and it didn’t help that my back was turned to him.
I couldn’t get mad at him. He spoke his mind – something I fervently believe in.
Zero Inhibition
Old people speak their minds. It’s the same for kids. In Master of None, there’s a scene where two kids enter an ice cream shop and start pointing people out by their skin color:
“Black. White. Yellow. Black. Black.”
Can you imagine an adult saying that (only person I can think of is my Viet Grandma).
I am constantly trying to find the balance of thinking twice before saying something and being assertive. It’s an ongoing battle.
I’m Matt Chung. I’m a software engineer, seasoned technology leader, and father currently based in Seattle and London. I love to share what I know. I write about topic developing scalable & fail-safe software running in the AWS cloud, digital organization as a mechanism for unlocking your creativity, and maximizing our full potentials with personal development habits.
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