On Sunday I went down to Orange County to see my friend David sing with the Pacific Chorale. They performed their annual selection of Christmas songs, including the very best rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas" that I've ever seen.
Those of you who are familiar with the Huntington Beach area know that it's a pretty upscale, conservative neighborhood. (Read: there are not a whole lot of Jewish people there.) Now picture a Christmas concert in Huntington Beach and you can imagine the scene in which I found myself. It's strange, because I very rarely feel like I stand out as a Jew, perhaps because I live in a neighborhood where one can regularly see Orthodox Jews walking to and from Synagogue and also because it's not one of the attributes that I use to primarily define myself. And I wasn't uncomfortable being noticeably in the minority - in fact it kind of amused me - but just to be aware of it was a different experience for me.
Oh, and I also bought a motorcycle over the weekend.
Yes, my mother knows.
No, she isn't happy about it.
Comments
Jews don't ride motorcycles.
Posted by: Ari | December 21, 2004 10:35 PM
Wait a minute... are you saying Jews aren't upscale and conservative?
Posted by: Gwen | December 21, 2004 11:06 PM
And protestant. I left out protestant in my description of Huntington Beach.
Posted by: Daniel | December 22, 2004 12:00 AM
Aren't you too tall to ride a motorcycle? I think there's a height limit. What about branches?
Posted by: Ruth | December 22, 2004 10:10 AM
Well Ruth, most roads don't have low branches, and my head is still lower than most SUVs so I think I'll be fine in that regard. And no, there's no height limit.
Posted by: Daniel | December 22, 2004 06:28 PM
I'm still waiting for a why.
Posted by: Ben | December 23, 2004 07:18 AM