Utah is beautiful, with all the mountains, even if the altitude is taking me by surprise and I'm fatigued and huffing and puffing around.
First interaction with a local was the shuttle van driver, who didn't know how deep Salt Lake City was, or what the population was, but decided to share this extremely inaccurate and wrong-on-so-many-levels tidbit: "You know, the Mormons aren't the majority here any more. It's the Orientals."
That comment was followed by extremely awkward silence for a very long time. I might not have Census statistics for Salt Lake City memorized, but I think it's safe to say that Asians are not at least 51% of the city, and that race and ethnicity don't necessarily determine the religious makeup of a community.
Not a good first impression! So I'll admit when I ventured out to the mall today, I was anticipating any stares I'd encounter or comments I'd get. I saw no Asians, btw. But if strolling around a public space is any indication, there is a sizeable Latino population. (And I'm sure some of them are Mormon.)
Back to huffing and puffing around.
1 comment:
The driver may have been referring to rugs. I believe Utah is big into Orientals, whereas Wyoming prefers Afghans. Nevada is all hard-wood.
That's my theory.
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