After a Racist Comment, I Chose to Start a Conversation

After a Racist Comment, I Chose to Start a Conversation

My skin started prickling the instant the postal worker asked if I was related to another Koh family, after glancing at the return address on the envelope I handed him to weigh. When I didn’t respond—taken aback by what felt like a crossed boundary—he pressed on, telling me he thought the family was “overeducated.” My head filled with confrontational words I might say, replacing the cheerful mood I’d been in minutes earlier. But I stayed silent,…