A funny thing happened to me today....

[Charlemagne]

I was in the mall today and stopped to look at the price of some leather jackets outside a store (I've seen some pretty outrageous prices for leather goods). I couldn't find one and was about to walk away when a Middle Eastern man sitting on a bench in the hallway told me they were "hundred-thirty-five dollars, sir". He told me he was the owner so I asked him if all of them were $135. Then he asked which one I was interested in and I said I was just curious about prices in general.

At this point, he gave me a conspiratorial look and asked if I was Muslim. I said I was agnostic and asked if being Muslim would affect the price (I'm sure it would have). He dodged the question but then asked if I was Indian and told me he was. Again, I told him no but mentioned that my maternal grandfather is from an Indian family. We got to chatting; me talking a bit about difficulty finding a decent job as a computer scientist and he about his son having the same problems as a computer engineer. When I left I told him that if I ever needed a leather jacket I'd come back and visit. It was pleasant enough talking to him but this was yet another example of something that's happened to me repeatedly over the last eight years, or so.

People seem to have a hard time seeing me as an average "Joe Canadian", born in Toronto, raised in a small town. Over the years I've been asked if I'm Jewish, Muslim, Israeli, French, Iraqi, Persian and now Indian. Also, I've occasionally been asked "what part of Europe are you from?" and "what part of the Middle East are you from?" So what do you think? Do I really have enough of an "ethnic look" to pass for an Indian Muslim or any of the other nationalities/religions above?

Photo of me (fairly large)

[fluxmaster]

If by "ethnic" you mean "non-white," I don't think so, personally.  I would say you look white, but now that you've noted Indian descent, I can see that a little bit, too.  People of mixed descent often get questioned like that.  I think that it is usually simply out of curiosity.

I used to work with a woman who was a mixture of several nationalities, inculding European and Asian.  I kept wondering what she was, and after a few weeks I finally broke down and asked her.  When she told me, then her appearance finally made sense.

[Blackthorne519]

You look like a freaky Desert Monkey to me!  Standing next to a coniferous tree no less!

Heh.

Seriously, it depends.  With the beard, you certainly look more European, or Exotic if you will.  Without the beard, you look like Bill Canada. Joe's brother, eh?

Bt

[Senor Matt]

I must agree with Bt, I think the beard makes you look much more "muslim" or just exotic.

[Radiant]

It might also be in the way you talk. I know I've had my accent mistaken for anything from Polish to Coxney and from New Yorkish to French.

[Alias]

You look like a freaky Desert Monkey to me!  Standing next to a coniferous tree no less!

Heh.

Seriously, it depends.  With the beard, you certainly look more European, or Exotic if you will.  Without the beard, you look like Bill Canada. Joe's brother, eh?

Bt

You look very European, maybe a cross between british and german. Or maybe not.  :p

[Swift]

You look Ang Moh (Singlish term for caucasian) to me.

[Vildern]

You look canadian to me

It could also be the accent... in high-school four different teachers asked me if I was born abroad, because of it.

[Alias]

Its really impossible to tell just by looks.

[rosel1]

I personally don't think you look at all Middle Eastern...I do see a touch of Europe though !

LOL...I've frequently been asked where I'm from.  One lady even commented on "How good my English was."  I kind of smiled and said "For an American?"  For whatever reason, people think I'm from Europe.  I don't think it has anything to do with my appearance....

[Charlemagne]

It might also be in the way you talk. I know I've had my accent mistaken for anything from Polish to Coxney and from New Yorkish to French.

I think that's because Dutch is such a hard accent to pin down. When I was about 13 we had a Dutch neighbour, but I couldn't figure out where he was from. He didn't sound "German enough" to be German but his accent wasn't really Spanish or French or British. Though, now that I think about it, the large number of tulips he planted in his garden should have given him away. I don't think I talk much different from other Canadians, with the exception of hardly ever saying "eh".

For those that don't think I look Middle Eastern, I have to admit, there was one time that I really did. I needed my picture taken for a new driver's licence, but didn't know it. When I walked into the office, I hadn't shaved for about six weeks. The girl also never told me when to smile. I swear, when I got my new licence, the picture looked like one of those guys in the FBI's terrorist photos.

[Alias]

 

Oh well, I guess we find most humor or horror in life when bad photos are taken.  :p

[FatherGhostface]

You look like exactly like a pine tree? And theres a tan rock with hair on it at the bottom? Are you a tree?

[Jafar]

I think you need new glasses, Ghostman...

[PotatoSlayer]

YAY a Christmas Tree..just from looking at that i can tell you're not Muslim

[Jafar]

I think that shirt is too tacky to make you look like a muslim.

[Klytos]

It's the beard. It makes you look middle-eastern I reakon.