“My family is heavily peppered with Cherokee (Eastern Band)relatives,though, not enough for my generation to meet roll requirements. Anyway, I used to work at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park visitor center which borders the reservation. We had, at least twice a week, some tourist come up and ask what time they let the Indians out,and Could the Indians go off the reservation. My favorite was, “Are they dangerous”? My jaw would hurt at the end of the shift from smiling and not decrying the fact that these idiots should never have left their home.
My two favorite park questions were,”If I go up the mountain do I have to come down it to get back home?” and “What TIME do the leaves change colors we don’t want to miss it?””
Oh my....
I know. Actually, all kidding aside, it was the most disheartening part of my job. These are American citizens. They should know better. I think all the positions that we have held that required contact with the general public led my husband and myself to choose homeschooling.