learn without experiencing it?
âDo you want to quit?â I asked her.
âNo,â she said slowly.
âIs anyone forcing you to keep doing it?â
âNo, but Iââ
âIf it were really that bad, you would quit, wouldnât you?â
Ada nodded, a little uncertainly. âBut itâs not that simple. You donât knowââ
âHow can I know if I donât try it? And if I donât like it, I can stop, right?â
Ada relaxed a little. âYeah. You could always back out, if you wanted.â She didnât look totally convinced, but she stopped fighting me. And when I pressed a little more, she agreed to introduce me to Irma. She said after that it would be between me and Irma and out of her hands.
I canât believe it. I canât believe Iâm really doing this! Iâm not sure I even recognize myself.
Wed, Nov 26
Ada just called. My big meeting with Irma is today! Iâm so nervous and excited. I wanted to go home first to change. Iâmworried that if I donât look really pretty, Irma wonât want me. But Ada said not to worry about that. Irma is sending a car for me! I really canât decide if I am more nervous or excited.
Ada just reminded me not to mention anything that happened with Damon. I still donât quite understand why thatâs such a big deal, but I can do that. Okay, I have to run.
Wed, Nov 26, later
Well, I have a job! Kind of. I still have to wait until I get scheduled for my first date, and of course I canât get paid before then. But Miss Irma took me on! I feel . . . relieved, I guess.
One thing I definitely didnât expect: Miss Irma (thatâs what everyone calls her to her face) came here from Taiwan, just like my parents. Sheâs probably about their age, too. Oh, wow. What if theyâve met? Given the size of the Chinese community here, itâs not impossible. I definitely donât want to think too much about that, though. Letâs keep those worlds separate.
It was surreal because Miss Irma speaks English with an accent that sounds a lot like my mom and all my aunts. I mean, obviously her English is much better. Sheâs been doing business in English for decades now. So more like my dad, in that way. She speaks very carefully, slowly, and her sentences are always correct, but the accent is still there.
I canât even describe how weird it is, because Miss Irma islike the complete opposite of my parents in every significant way. She is not obsessed with me going to college and doing all my homework and stuff like that. But itâs not just that. Everything about her seems so much less rigid and controlling. Itâs kind of a revelation to meet someone Chinese who isnât a doctor or an engineer or a scientist or some other âacceptableâ successful career, like my parentsâ friends are. Miss Irma has made her own success, in a completely original way.
It made me feel like maybe there are more options open to me than I thought. Not that I necessarily want to do what Miss Irma does when I grow up, but Iâm starting to see that I donât have to limit my dreams to the ones my parents consider acceptable. I can follow a different, less-obvious path, if I want to.
Irmaâs office wasnât really what I expected either. It was in a big anonymous high-rise tower downtown, mixed in among dentists and lawyers and gynecologists. Her sign in the lobby was very discreet, and you would never have guessed anything at all about her line of work from it.
Even once you got upstairs into the reception area, it still felt a lot more like a doctorâs office than like a . . . well, a whorehouse. Itâs all pastel wallpaper and tasteful paintings and fluorescent lighting. I figure this canât be where Miss Irma meets her clients. I canât see anyone being turned-on by that decor.
Anyway, there was a receptionist, a pretty woman
âDo you want to quit?â I asked her.
âNo,â she said slowly.
âIs anyone forcing you to keep doing it?â
âNo, but Iââ
âIf it were really that bad, you would quit, wouldnât you?â
Ada nodded, a little uncertainly. âBut itâs not that simple. You donât knowââ
âHow can I know if I donât try it? And if I donât like it, I can stop, right?â
Ada relaxed a little. âYeah. You could always back out, if you wanted.â She didnât look totally convinced, but she stopped fighting me. And when I pressed a little more, she agreed to introduce me to Irma. She said after that it would be between me and Irma and out of her hands.
I canât believe it. I canât believe Iâm really doing this! Iâm not sure I even recognize myself.
Wed, Nov 26
Ada just called. My big meeting with Irma is today! Iâm so nervous and excited. I wanted to go home first to change. Iâmworried that if I donât look really pretty, Irma wonât want me. But Ada said not to worry about that. Irma is sending a car for me! I really canât decide if I am more nervous or excited.
Ada just reminded me not to mention anything that happened with Damon. I still donât quite understand why thatâs such a big deal, but I can do that. Okay, I have to run.
Wed, Nov 26, later
Well, I have a job! Kind of. I still have to wait until I get scheduled for my first date, and of course I canât get paid before then. But Miss Irma took me on! I feel . . . relieved, I guess.
One thing I definitely didnât expect: Miss Irma (thatâs what everyone calls her to her face) came here from Taiwan, just like my parents. Sheâs probably about their age, too. Oh, wow. What if theyâve met? Given the size of the Chinese community here, itâs not impossible. I definitely donât want to think too much about that, though. Letâs keep those worlds separate.
It was surreal because Miss Irma speaks English with an accent that sounds a lot like my mom and all my aunts. I mean, obviously her English is much better. Sheâs been doing business in English for decades now. So more like my dad, in that way. She speaks very carefully, slowly, and her sentences are always correct, but the accent is still there.
I canât even describe how weird it is, because Miss Irma islike the complete opposite of my parents in every significant way. She is not obsessed with me going to college and doing all my homework and stuff like that. But itâs not just that. Everything about her seems so much less rigid and controlling. Itâs kind of a revelation to meet someone Chinese who isnât a doctor or an engineer or a scientist or some other âacceptableâ successful career, like my parentsâ friends are. Miss Irma has made her own success, in a completely original way.
It made me feel like maybe there are more options open to me than I thought. Not that I necessarily want to do what Miss Irma does when I grow up, but Iâm starting to see that I donât have to limit my dreams to the ones my parents consider acceptable. I can follow a different, less-obvious path, if I want to.
Irmaâs office wasnât really what I expected either. It was in a big anonymous high-rise tower downtown, mixed in among dentists and lawyers and gynecologists. Her sign in the lobby was very discreet, and you would never have guessed anything at all about her line of work from it.
Even once you got upstairs into the reception area, it still felt a lot more like a doctorâs office than like a . . . well, a whorehouse. Itâs all pastel wallpaper and tasteful paintings and fluorescent lighting. I figure this canât be where Miss Irma meets her clients. I canât see anyone being turned-on by that decor.
Anyway, there was a receptionist, a pretty woman
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