Sometimes, I even tell people they're being mensches. And sometimes, I've gotten a negative reaction to that. Apparently there's some SFF book out there (I totally can't remember, maybe one of you knows), that uses mensch to mean something like a mundane or a muggle. In trying to Google around to find this (it turns out it's from the Death Gate series as
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Look, there are only two people in my family I really look like. A grandmother who died of cancer when I was a kid but always took ridiculous amounts of time out from being very very ill to pay attention to me even when other people told her not to and a great-grandfather who was a tailor. I never met him, I've just seen a photo and have been told over and over again that he was both intensely shy and soft-spoken and also the most charismatic and handsome person my mother has ever remembered meeting.
He was a quiet man who did labor-intensive craftsmanship; the work of a tailor is detail-oriented, proud and servile; it's weird shit and it's laced through my personal and family narrative. My mother talks about how he was really nearly frightened of everyone on some level, but was always a gracious host and always spent time talking to her at great length at family gatherings, she suspects because she was a child and not only less intimidating, but also as uncomfortable in the room in the same way that he was.
At any rate. These two people? Huge figures in the map of my pretty complicated identity in terms of race, religion and gender. Jews who spoke English, Yiddish and Hebrew. People who took time out for others despite their personal pains and fears. Mensches.
It's not a slur; it's a compliment. It doesn't mean a snitch or a boring person or someone uptight. Most people have no reason to know better if they heard it as something else. I get that. Other places aren't necessarily environmentally Jewish the way New York is. But if what I'm telling you about this word is a newsflash to you, please check your use of the word.
Thanks.
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Fleshed out my first scene a little more. It's clearer, but has less punch than my first draft (I won't be able to fiddle like this once NaNo really begins). I've also realized it's not the first scene anymore. Nope, the opening scene is actually going to be a magazine interview with Evan, because what a great way to info dump! And it fits in with the whole media/public-lens theme, etc.