Nuremberg Tour 1

It all depends on whose view you hear. To one side, I am an aristocrat of labor, with my nose stuck in the air. The other sees me as lacking any education, couth or dignity, a non-person, a disgrace to the rest of the group.
I stand unique, an incomprehensible rarity at the linen rental service. Why on earth would I even be here in the first place? Why would I not pursue further education? Why would I content myself with a mere high school diploma, albeit with very strong math and computer skills?
I've never done a day's heavy labor, only tedious stuff. I don't feed machines, most doing that have Grade 6 education.
I started in the shipping department, as befits my high marks, the day after finishing high school.
When the head of counting-in department retired, I was offered the job, company, not union.
It is all women I supervise, most in their 30s and 40s. Most have Grade 6 to 8 education. They resent me, but aren't intelligent enough to cause any real trouble. Also, I make a point of being very polite. This disarms them, keeps their resentment passive.
As for the reference group I supposedly belong to, they are appalled that one of their number indulges in physical labor.
I have had various offers to be someone's bookkeeper, but I politely decline. Here at the linen rental, I get more salary and more respect from management.
I live alone in a small furnished room. Parents just could not see eye to eye with me. Translation, they were so cold throughout I know there is something seriously wrong with them or me. Or both.
So how did it all begin? In the world of the future, holding three different citizenships, all perfectly legally, is a bit uncommon, but unremarkable.
What makes it remarkable is which three. So far as I know, my family is the only one in the entire world holding Israeli, Guyanese and Canadian citizenship.
But but you protest, does that not make you a Jew? Well, yes and no.
Suppose a person of Christian lineage decides to be an Atheist. The world simply accepts that choice. From there on in, he/she is viewed purely as Atheist, not a Christian Atheist.
Yet both my parents were of course Israeli citizens and raised Jewish. Both chose to become Atheist. So why does the world differentiate? Why does the world consider them Jewish Atheists, as oppsed to real ones?
I too happen to be Atheist; I too am viewed as Jewish Atheist.
It goes downhill from there. See the Canadian Jews sneer at us "real Israelis". In their view, we are shirking our duty and should return home immediately and face up to it.
I'm sorry, but too violent for my tastes. If those same Canadian Jews chose to emigrate, fine, more power to them. If not, they have no right to criticize my choices.
But how Israeli am I really? I left at age two, never been back, even on vacation. I know probably two dozen words of Hebrew.
Here in Canada, if you don't know my name, you automatically assume I'm an ethnic German, from my look.
When you first hear me speak, you are mystified. How did the German pick up an East Indian accent? And when you hear my name, Rachel Goldberg, the confusion is now multiplied. After all, it's not like there are a lot of German Jews who speak English with an East Indian accent.
We didn't come directly to Canada. From age two to fifteen, I was in Guyana with my parents.
They settled into the small town of Rose Hall, in Berbice province on the coast. Fifteen miles west was the hub of New Amsterdam, where my father owned a business. Large by standards there, his store employed a dozen.
Despite being the richest man in Rose Hall, he was bitter, endlessly complaining of the poverty and lack of business opportunity, burning with a passion to go to a "real" country.
I loved Guyana. Nice weather. Shrimp. Fresh fruit. Warm kind people.
I did little other than eat and sleep in the parental abode. Most of my time was spent with my best friend Savitri. I was treated like an honorary daughter in her warm and cheerful family.
Nobody once breathed the word "Jew". Guyanese are taught there are six races: African, Indian (East Indian), Amerindian (Native), Chinese, European and Portugese.
I was obviously European, the only white kid in our elementary. Teachers just naturally assumed this meant I would be a serious student. As long as I remained in the top third of the class, I was largely invisible, as I was meeting their expectations.
With an effort of will, I pull myself back into the here and now. What got me wandering like that? Savitri's email. I really do need to reply today, put it off too much already.