Sometimes the unique irony of life gives us great opportunities to pause, reflect and laugh.
As part of a job-related relocation, my family and I moved to picturesque Heber City, Utah in 2004 - excited to experience rural small town life. Looking back, by and large our time here has been wonderful. We have found many sincere and generally opened minded people. We’ve made many new friends. We’ve fondly experienced the European charm of neighboring Midway and the western adventure of Heber City’s Cowboy Poetry Gathering. We’ve logged many miles on the local outdoor trails and we’ve taken in the colorful autumn splendor of the oak brush surrounding the valley.
Unfortunately though, I must admit that there is one minor incident that has always bothered me a bit – an incident that reminds me that small towns are not immune from the foibles that often face humanity. Mentioning it is certainly not an indictment of Heber City. Indeed, this incident could have occurred anywhere. It just happened to have occurred here.
Not long after moving to Heber City in 2004, my wife, who happens to have been born in South Korea, but has since become a United States Citizen (On the 4th of July, 2001 no less) visited one of the local grocery stores. While she was shopping, a group of teenage boys passed by and laughingly said, “There’s no sushi here!” They cracked themselves up pretty good, and they snickered all the way down the aisle as they left.
Still being in touch with my inner first grader, when my wife told me of this incident, initially I too gave a little chuckle. Only one problem: my wife wasn’t laughing. I could tell that this racial insensitivity hurt her. I felt badly. I wanted to find the teenage boys and perhaps share with them a few choice vocabulary words.
Fortunately, my wife didn’t let this incident affect her. She moved on and continued to embrace all the good in the area. However, I’ve always remembered it – wishing somehow I could take it away or erase it from our experience.
Call it Karma or whatever, but life has an interesting, ironic and sometimes funny way of dealing with incidents such as these. Years passed. On May 4, 2009, I visited the same grocery store where this incident happened in 2004. Outside the store a large sign announced the arrival of a new item: “SUSHI Made Fresh Daily At Seafood/Deli.” When I saw the sign I laughed. This time my wife laughed too.
