Spit on Me!

Candy has never dated a black man. They aren't her type either. She admittedly prefers white men. Since we spent most of the night talking, I didn't take her exclusive taste the wrong way. Candy grew up in a very homogeneous town, and has lived there for her entire life. Since she's a white woman from a very white town, it only makes sense that she would be into white guys.

We often fear what we don't understand. This fear then leads to all sorts of behaviors. Candy has never dated a black guy because she doesn't like the whole "ghetto thing", as she put it. Unfortunately, the black men who frequent Candy's shop are all very similar in that they seem to be really "hood." On the surface, they don't reflect men of great substance. Since Candy values intellectualism and great conversation, a black man has yet to tickle her fancy.

Despite this admission, Candy didn't strike me as being a racist. As a matter of fact, for a long time I didn't like white people. It all started in pre-school when a group of white five year-olds stomped on me while the white teachers watched. The episode lasted for a few minutes. I vividly remember struggling to regain my footing while they kicked me and called me "blackie" in French.

On a daily basis, I was harrassed by these little rugrats and the teachers never did anything about it. At the time, I was attending a predominantly white school in a white suburb of Montreal. Eventually, my Godmother (who I was living with) took me out of the school. It took years for me to get past that experience. I didn't really understand why those kids beat me up even though I had never done anything to them...

In addition to being very attractive, Candy is incredibly bright. The most striking feature on her body is a tattoo of a giraffe.  It adorns the right side of her torso.

Me: What's the significance of the giraffe?
Candy: Have you ever heard of this book titled Ishmael? It's by Daniel Quinn.
Me: Nah. Never heard of it.
Candy: Well, it's about a guy who interacts with a talking gorilla. The gorilla ends up being a teacher for this guy. Basically, the whole premise of this interaction is to make a point about man's supposed destiny to rule the world. The book gets into corporate greed and its effects on our environment. I was so inspired by the book that I got this tattoo.
Me: That's really deep. Do you date men who are as sharp as you are intellectually?
Candy: I'd say so.
Me: Then why did you say you tend to date the wrong kinds of men?
Candy: Because they're crazy!
Me: Explain crazy.
Candy: My ex-boyfriend spit in my face because I wouldn't leave his house...