I Think My, Like, Great-Great Grandfather Invented Writing or Something

So I was enjoying my typical Friday repast at the Bombay Palace when I was disturbed to find myself suddenly surrounded by high schoolers. I hate high schoolers in my campus-area restaurants. Many, many reasons, but mostly having to do with a complete lack of manners, noise and general idiocy. In fact, I stopped dinning at the Maple Garden because of the high schoolers. Bombay Palace had remained delightfully high-schooler free. Perhaps because of the hefty $8.70 cost of the all-you-can-eat, possibly because of the lack of familiar cuisine. That seems to have come to an end.

So as I'm surrounded by high-schoolers, I cannot help but overhear their high-school level conversation. The table behind me is discussing their ethnic backgrounds. They are all very white and claiming all very white northern-European descent. Not an Italian, Greek, Jew, Russian, or Slav among them. I was sort of paying attention to the conversation because of an article I read this morning (sorry about the lack of link, can't find it) that asserts that the ethnic heritage of your average American is so mixed that no one really has any clue. I also recognized myself and my friends in the conversation and the typical quest to understand one's identity at that age.

One thing in particular did catch my ear, though. One girl asserted she was part Irish, German, English, and Assyrian. When asked, "Assyrian, what's that?" She replied, "You know like the Assyrian Empire. That's where some of my family comes from."