label me

Labels are annoying. They have a way of defining you that is trite and limiting. For example, when people ask me where I am from, the answer they're looking for is not New Jersey. They want to know if I am Korean or Japanese. When I reply that I am Chinese, they give a knowing nod and say, "Oh really?!" But what does it mean to be Chinese? Obviously, I am not the Chinese from China in their imaginations, but that's not important because a Chinese is a Chinese above all else, whatever that means.

Sometimes, labels can be useful. For example, recently I discovered that I am a flexitarian. All of my life when people ask me about my food preferences I feel compelled to explain that while I love vegetables and eat and cook mostly vegetables I am an omnivore. But that is a mouthful. Finally, I have my own label. Like vegetarians, pescatarians, lacto-ovo vegetarians, I-eat-chicken vegetarians, I-eat-chicken-fish-eggs-dairy vegetarians, the-only-animals-I-eat-have-two-feet-or-less vegetarians, and vegans, I have a word to describe me (at least my food preferences anyway).

Having a label this time feels good. It feels like there may be a colony of like-minded flexitarians in the universe. That I am not alone. I may not be unique, but now I am legitimate.