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I just finished reading an article in my daily newspaper, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. It was titled Anchor criticized for being “very Asian.”An anchor with a Saint Louis, Missouri tv station had wrapped up a report she was doing about food people eat to celebrate New Year’s Day, by saying that she ate dumpling soup like many Koreans do. The reporter is of Korean ancestry, raised by white parents.

The reporter’s comment rubbed a good, upstanding American the wrong way. The offended person left a message expressing her discontent by saying a white anchor would have been fired if they had made a comment about what white people eat on New Year’s Day. I’m trying to restrain myself from saying something uncouth, but I must be honest. That’s got to be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. The comment was in no way derogatory to anyone. It was inline with the content of the reporter’s intent, getting her viewers thinking about the diversity of foods people might consume during the holiday season.

The newspaper article goes on to say that the reporter had reconnected with her Korean family in 1998 and has incorporated Korean culture into her life since then. I for one, think that’s wonderful. Although the article makes no mention of the love shared between the reporter and her white parents, I’m sure it’s powerful. My oldest child isn’t of another ethnicity, but she is adopted. We’ve always celebrated her very existence and the fact that she’s a part of our family. Heck, she even looks like us. I’ve always felt that an adopted child is blessed in ways that only the child can appreciate. Someone has assumed the honor of loving them and providing them a comfortable space in the universe, which otherwise might not have happened. (Please excuse the meandering thoughts about adoption. I just had to get them out.)

The reporter was being herself and demonstrating a celebratory attitude that she is proud of who she is and happy about it. How dare a troll rain on her parade.

We all have a God-given right to be ourselves in as much of a positive way as possible. I have no idea what the troll was thinking or why she was offended. Her comments marked just one in innumerable sad days when someone hasn’t the heart to vicariously experience someone else’s joy.

I’m old and blessed…hope you will be too.