I was so worried like: oh shit something is gonna happen and I'm gonna miss the appointment, or forget a document, or something... too suspiciously calm and peaceful...
Nothing happened... I just went and did a normal thing... lol
All the post offices (that's where people in the US apply for passports, idk how its done in other countries) in my city are booked full... the fastest available slot was in another town across state lines
and its a predominantly white neighborhood... (and I'm ethnically Chinese)
So I was like: *Am I gonna be the only "foreign looking" person here? Oh no everyone is gonna stare at me...
I show up there...
and...
The guy working at the post office has brown skin tone... which I didn't even register at first since I got so used to it in Philly...
and then he spoke with a very noticible foreign accent (it sounds very close to a stereotypical "Indian Accent" as portrayed in the media... and no offence btw, my mom also has a very noticible accent)
and it took a few seconds before my brain processed it
oh... that's unexpected... (cuz I thought everyone is gonna be white here, I read that it was supposed to be a very white according to online searches)
then I thought
yay, I'm not the most "foreign looking" person here!
Like I actually felt so much better seeing a non-white person here... especially someone that's actually working at the post office...
(and I mean it in a "We're both PoCs in this very white area" sort of way, like I felt less "out of place")
Honestly I think the internet paints a too grim of a view of the US... its not that bad when you actually touch grass... especially Reddit/Lemmy is so fucking distored and filled with FUD, doomerism, and "resistance is futile"-type propaganda, the average person in the US is not gonna lynch you for not being white... the sun was shining, and other than the paranoia, I didn't really felt like I was in any real danger...
- did not meet any angry white old guy or karens yelling racial slurs or being aggressive...
- did not run into ICE...
But then again, ngl, it felt weird that my dad was there with me and he was a non citizen and didn't speak English... felt kinda awkward... but I have no drivers license so I need my parents for transportation π€·ββοΈ
Also I now have no physical documentationa for my citizenship until they mail the stuff back to me... cuz they sent the original with the passport application...
Lets hope I don't run into ICE in these few weeks... π
[insert "chucles, I'm in danger" meme here]
Yeah, it's worth noting that most people don't watch the 24/7 news cycle, and most people just want to go about their lives so they can pay their phone bill. This is true for most countries. I've been to the US numerous times, often in deeply red areas, and it was... for the most part alright. Well, except Mississippi needs to learn how to build roads, and Galveston needs to learn that their seafood is pretty shit. I was pleasantly surprised by Mobile, AL. Well, they need to build a drainage system, that's all.
Of course, I have two simple rules when it comes to international travels:
I'm a pretty average white (nordic) european, but I somehow easily stick out as a foreigner in the US. Probably because I get sunburnt easily, and I don't handle the heat very well. I can have a mundane interaction at a store, and people will ask me where I'm from. And no, it's not an accent thing; For starters, I'm fluent in Texan, plus It happens even if there are no words spoken. I usually just reply with the truth, as people only ask because they're genuinely curious.
As for passports, I've held a passport ever since I turned 18, and due to the nature of my job I have to renew it before it expires simply because I run out of pages for visas and stamps. It's done at any police station, and I can choose whether I pick it up there, or I can get it in the mail (which takes a bit longer). I'm so used to official paperwork at this point that I don't really think about it whenever I have to go through processes like that. This became clear when I applied for a US work visa a few years back: Well, turned out that I needed a bunch of extra documents with me AND I wasn't allowed to bring my laptop into the embassy to fetch said documents electronically. So my application was put on hold while I submitted those documents (which involved a 5 minute walk down to the gym where I'd locked away my backpack with laptop in it). It took a few extra jumps through hoops, but I now have my B1/B2 and C1/D visa.
On the topic of ICE, I spoke to a former coworker recently. He's half mexican, but a US citizen who lived here in Norway for quite a while. His employer (which is also my former employer) did a real dick move and basically forced him to move back to the US as he was needed there. He did not have a choice in the matter, as his Norwegian visa was tied to this employer (who have offices in both countries). We joked that I should call ICE on him to "send him back to where he came from".