Welcome Stranger

I have a pile of scripts to read on my desk, I am in the middle of finishing a new pilot and I have a few favors that I need to be doing for friends.  But I can't think straight right now, so I need to just write it out and see if I feel better.

Last night was a new experience for my burgeoning career in Hollywood.  I was a welcomed stranger in a strange land.

As some of you may know, a large part of my career of choice is networking.  To be able to shmooz and talk and get to know other people is the main way you get jobs, sell projects and make money.  (I'm totally down with this principle by the way, it is a necessary thing).

For a change of pace, I was invited to a mixer for Entertainment professionals of Asian and Pacific descent.  "But" you say, "you're not Asian, Eric."  Ya, I know.  It's cool, I was with good people.

It was a strange experience to say the least.  Not that I was shunned for being white, but because I was not shunned.  Let me explain...

Shunning can be very passive-aggressive.  It is very easy to ignore a person because of who they are, what they are and what they look like.  To ignore a person standing in the room that you for some reason hate with all of your black heart, is a very easy thing to do.

I'm not saying this is a good thing, it's actually quite bad.  But sometimes you just don't get along with someone or sometimes a person has done something offensive to you or your kin.  I think we all do it subconsciously to certain types of people.  I know I am guilty of doing this, and I hate to admit that I'll probably do it again.  Especially if I ever get stuck in a room with someone I secretly dislike (you probably don't know who you are, but I assure you - I don't like you.)

But here's my point - while attending this wonderfully asian social soirée, I was not shunned but welcomed whole-heartedly.  Almost too much in fact.  I felt completely at ease while there, even though there were a few moments of pure awkwardness - mainly from having been approached by one of the other only white guys there and being asked incessant questions about reading scripts at the agency at which I work.  But I brought that on myself, I should have just said I'm an aspiring writer and that I'm between jobs.

Needless to say, I shunned that guy the rest of the night.

Back to work!