Ethnicity, orientation cause for confusion

To the Editor:

In the ‘60s, my husband Keith and I operated a lodge at Lucille Lake in Wasilla. The speedboat racers from Anchorage used our facilities on weekends in summer, including the dock to launch their boats.

Once a week a young mother (who, with her husband and two young sons were all racers) approached me “to apologize.”

“My, for what, Marnice?” I inquired. She was such a gentle, kind and friendly lass. “Well, you know, the article “The Ruralite” wrote about you made me realize the error I have been making when I would mention you to my friends. I would say ‘I met this really neat lesbian lady’ and they would look at me strangely. The article state that you were of Lebanese descent, so I was mispronouncing that word!”

Of course, I chuckled.

Now, recognizing that not many people read or know of many descending from that small country, when anyone questions me of my descent, I say with a smile, “Lebanese, and please don’t mispronounce it.”

Kitty (Kaady) Johnson

Del Rio, Texas