What makes you uncomfortable? Can it be imagined and/ or contagious?

We have lived in Massachusetts for 23 years, all of our time here in USA. In Norwood, the colony we lived in had a lot of Indians. Then we bought a house in Franklin, which was not a very diverse town but slowly we made it one. I worked hard in the beginning and it is home now. In general we live in a very progressive state. 

When you travel as a tourist, you don’t experience the day to day life but you get an idea. A tourist destination anywhere is a mixed population but if you sit outside a cafe in a not so touristy place you get the picture.

We were in FL last week, we drove around and noticed so many vacation rentals along the coast and wondered if there were any locals in that area.

I wear a saree often and this vacation was not any different. I am very proud of and very comfortable being a desi in a foreign land. I wore a Saree for lunch on Friday. Mr.Husband is not a man who likes to stand out, he is quiet, goes with the flow and doesn’t shake up things in general. But he is used to me being me. On that sunny Friday he felt people were staring (which is not new if I wear a saree) but he felt it wasn’t appreciative staring. It was outdoor seating in a fancy restaurant on the Main Street and in general I would have enjoyed my lunch and even the stares but once he mentioned I wasn’t the usual me. Somehow I started feeling that vibe too, may be it was his tone? Was he more concerned because it was Florida? Our biases sure control our emotions. I suddenly felt our server wasn’t very friendly, was it in my mind? Somehow that fancy restaurant and the fabulous food didn’t feel the same and I couldn’t wait to go back to the Airbnb. I am verbalizing this because I don’t remember feeling this way in a very long time.

During this trip to Clearwater, FL I didn’t see many Indians during the week but did see a few families on Saturday, visiting parents. Some of the moms were in Saree and I was wondering how do they react to these kind of emotions. Thought of their grown children who know their moms won’t wear anything but Saree even on a hot sunny day in FL. 

Do you feel out of place in some settings ? What triggers this kind of feeling?