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“How long have you been to homeless?” A homeless person asked Eric who carried my yellow bag, his bag and a plastic bag full of food while he walked out from Motel Six in Memphis. His curly hair was pretty wild and his beard was absolutely crazy. That perfectly fits his hobo travel style.


He walked to Tiger Mart, met me there and told me what just happened. We laughed out loud. But I didn't understand why we are often misunderstood as homeless couples.

"In America, poor people usually can't afford cars. If you don't drive, you are considered poor. People don't understand why some people choose to travel by public transportation. It doesn't mean they are poor. That is a stereotype.” He said.

“Well, sometimes people just want to travel without driving. Taking a bus saves you trouble from driving, navigating and parking. It also saves gas since the price is roaring up. Why did that guy want you to do? ” I asked. “I don't know. Maybe he wanted me to carry something.” He answered.

Stereotypes are really something that leads you to misunderstand a person, a place, an issue and so on. Being misjudged by appearance, Eric was considered as a bum. Actually we were just traveling. Being misjudged by what vehicles we took, we were considered poor. Actually we were just willing to save the environment. Being misjudged by where we sat on, we were offered some bread by an Italian mama. Actually there were no vacancy in the hall and we were just waiting for an overnight train to Venice. Even though the stereotypes bother us sometimes, we treat them as funny memories in our life. They are practical jokes.

However, stereotypes could be harmful. In America, African Americans are still treated not exactly as equal as others, so are other ethnic groups. Even in Taiwan, some people discriminate the black. But if Taiwanese are willing to abandon the prejudice, they will hold different attitudes toward them. Same situation in Taiwan happens to those foreigners who are from Southeast Asia. Some Taiwanese consider themselves superior to them. A Vietnamese woman married to a Taiwanese may be considered the one who wants to support her family financially. It is partially true but we can’t deny the fact that some women marry Taiwanese out of love. A foreign maid may be prejudged as lazy, stupid and dishonest. They may be monitored by a hidden camera because their employers suspect the maids torture their sick parents or young kids.

Contradictorily, some Taiwanese think themselves inferior to Caucasians. In bars or clubs, some Taiwanese girls are keen to hunt for a Caucasian man no matter who he really is. It's pretty sad to judge a person by his/ her color. I can't treat this kind of stereotype as a practical joke in my life. Well, this issue is really too serious.At least, we don't mind our hobo travel style. We were strange “bums” who took city bus to dine in a little fancy Outback Grill House. That was funny and fun.

We are happy “bums” by choice and we both cherish our "bum-hood".


Illustration：Pyramid, Memphis, TN.