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Why do people keep asking where I'm from? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by Shampoo_Bottle@lemmy.ca to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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Up until I started working, I didn't really encounter that question. When I did start working, people started asking me that question.

Them: Where are you from?

Me: Canada.

Them: Where are your grandparents from?

Me: Canada.

Them: Ok, where are your great grandparents from?

Me: Canada.

It's irritating sometimes. I just want to exist, do my job and go home, like anyone else. Once is ok, twice is odd, three times is weird, and the fourth time is a pattern.

The only accent that I might have would probably be from Newfoundland, Canada, as I grew up with a lot of people from there. I also talk too fast sometimes.

Have you had similar experiences, and if so, how did you handle it? Can fast speech patterns cause this? Why do random people care so much?

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[–] Kanzar@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

When my white colleagues get asked "this", it's more "are you a local boy/girl?" (just country things...). When my non-white colleagues get asked "where are you from?", they're not satisfied with a location somewhere in Australia.

Apparently, for a lot of white Australians, you need to be white to be Australian.