Information  you need before we begin:

1) The new girl at work is brown.
2) There are a lot of both Indians and Indian-Canadians in my office.
3) I am English-Canadian

–

*Coworkers huddle outside, waiting for the fire drill to end*

Coworker 1: Are we ordering Indian food today?
Coworker 2: I don’t think so.
Coworker 1: I have a real craving for it.
Me: I could go for some Korma.
New girl: Really? I don’t like Indian food.
Me: Oh that’s okay, I don’t like English food.
New girl: I’m not Indian.
Me: Right.

-end-

I apologised and learned that her family was from Trinidad. We moved on to talk about other things, but I was mortified for the rest of the day, and if I think about it now (which I am), I shake my head.  I assumed she was Indian because she is brown, which was an ignorant assumption.

Here’s where it gets confusing in my head. Coworker 1 later told me it’s not a big deal, that where someone is from shouldn’t be a sensetive topic (after all, there is nothing wrong with being from India). So now I’m wondering if she’s right. *Should* this be a sensetive topic and am I making something out of nothing?

It’s interesting because I think we make these sort of race-based assumptions all the time; I would argue, a lot of the time, it’s innocent. For example, I’m white and people are often surprised to find out I’m first generation Canadian; whereas, I have fifth-gen Asian-Canadian friends and strangers assume they just got here.

I still feel dumb and have learned my lesson, but I wanted to put it out there and see what you guys think of this topic.