Ethnic Tourism
by C.F. Molina

So, some white lady comes up to my girlfriend and asks if she can touch her ponytail and she’s like “Sure, go ahead” and the white lady is like “Oh my God, I love your hair, it’s so pretty!” and my girlfriend is like “Thank you” and then the white lady goes on her merry way satisfied at her one black interaction of the year and I’m like, “Woooooow” and my girlfriend nods and then I’m like “Where does she get the nerve to do that? Holy shit. It’s like, congratulations, you’ve touched some curly hair, you’ve had the black experience and now you can go on with your life now that you’ve run your hands through an afro-american scalp and I’m just kind of in awe. How are you not more mad about this?” and she says, “I’m used to it.”