This Week Interracial Couple (9/25/2014)*
@LeslieMac: Brooklyn, NY.
@VeryWhiteGuy: Chicago, IL.
Together: 17 years
How did it start? & What was your first impression of your partner?
LeslieMac: We worked together. LM had been working as a corporate training opening up new locations of a restaurant chain. I was sick of traveling & asked to come back & manage the location I originally worked at before moving into the corporate side of the business. Very White Guy meanwhile had just finished grad school & was waiting tables at this same location before getting a “real job”. To hear him tell it, before I came back, people keep telling him, “Dude, you better get your act together, Leslie is coming back next week and she DOES NOT PLAY.” He brushed them off and so my first day back in the restaurant, VWG shows up 15 minutes late. I walk up to him & the exchange goes as follows:
LM: Hi, You must be VeryWhiteGuy (name changed of course), I’m Leslie. What time were you scheduled to work today?
VWG: Oh uh, I’m working the bar tonight.
LM: Yea, but what time were you scheduled to work?
VWG: Oh, closing, I’m closing so about now.
LM: Hmm - let’s take a walk to look at the schedule together. I direct him by the arm to the schedule, find his name & the shift.
LM: Ah - see you were scheduled to be here at 430. It’s 445 not, you’re late, DO NOT let it happen again. Have a great shift.
(VeryWhiteGuy… bang we’re married!)
I said it then & I say it all the time. He was a lousy employee, but has made a wonderful husband.
When did you first know you are falling in love?
LeslieMac & VWG: We had a drunken discussion in a bar after work about 4 months after we met. VWG started going on about all the things he was looking for in a women (independent, intelligent, strong sense of self, funny). Leslie looked at him and said, I’m all those things - why aren’t we together? The rest is history.
What has been the response from your family and/or friends about your relationship?
They’re all for it.
LeslieMac: When we got engaged & one of my sisters met VeryWhiteGuy - She said to him. “I always knew Leslie was going to marry a white guy”. Not sure what that says about me, her or VWG - but there you go.
VWG: This was nothing out of the ordinary or unusual to my family.
Have you ever received a negative or strange comment as an interracial couple? If so, what was your reaction?
LeslieMac: The strangest thing that has happened over and over at the grocery store when these damn cashiers ask some variation of “is this all together” or “are you paying separately” & the like. DRIVES ME CRAZY. I mean no lady, I just let random white men empty my shopping cart & then start bagging it too… you SAW me put in the frequent shopping card #, he CALLED me BABE. Grrr.
VWG: I failed to disclose that fact that LeslieMac is black to a few friends pre-facebook days (yes we are old) & there were a few awkward moments where I didn’t know how to bring it up but realized it was well past the time to do so & a few of my friends gave me the old, “What the hell, why didn’t you tell me she was black. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
Ever tried the cuisine from your partners’ culture? If yes, what is your favourite dish?
LeslieMac: My family is from Jamaica, his is from… white people? They don’t have a cuisine to speak of. One Christmas at his mother’s she made a roast & Yorkshire pudding. Have you every seen this? It’s crescent roll with beef drippings all in it. Disgusting.
VeryWhiteGuy: I love my Mom’s Yorkshire Pudding, but not nearly as much as I love my MIL’s Jamaican food. Especially her Stewed Peas & Rice.
What stereotype(s) have you found to be TRUE and/or FALSE with your partner? (optional)
LeslieMac:
- TRUE: He has no rhythm, despite playing the harmonica quite well.
- TRUE: He has zero fear of the police - is indignant with them even.
- FALSE: He DOES NOT smell like wet dog in the rain.
- FALSE: He is VERY FUNNY & no vanilla at all.
VeryWhiteGuy:
- TRUE: She don’t play.
- TRUE: She DOES NOT like when people touch her hair. (I have privileges).
- TRUE: She can dance circles around me.
- FALSE: She is NOT ANGRY.
What do you think is the key to a strong relationship?
LeslieMac: Communication & Laughter
VeryWhiteGuy: Honest communication with yourself & each other. Compromise.
What is the best advice you have ever received from your BF/GF/Wife/Husband?
LeslieMac: Whenever he tells me he is proud of me, I think I’ve done a good job & that he truly means it. Not sure if that is advice, but it gets me through.
VWG: To look at the bigger picture & not worry about the little crap.
@LeslieMac and @VeryWhiteGuy host a podcast @InterracialJawn “an interracial couple (that would be US) discuss pop culture, tv, movies and current events from their unique perspectives as a very white guy and a mostly black woman. Visit www.interracialjawn.com have a listen to their show and let them know you found them here.
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