As an immigrant who migrated to the United States fifteen years ago, my constant motivation was to fulfill, the need of belonging. I wanted to belong like my children who effortlessly melded to the fabric of the American society that we live in.
The struggles of my mixed identity led to me over analyzing situations and being hyper sensitive about every day interactions. I would find myself to be at odds with the perceptions of my husband and kids, when I said something like “Didn’t you find that waiter to be rude, only to us?”, when they would disagree and say something like, “ I think that’s just the way he talks”, or “ He is just ultra-busy”, which led me to think maybe I am being too thin-skinned and judgmental. I tried to learn from my everyday experiences to improve myself.
Many years ago, in a similar limbo of indecision of what to make of a situation, I was told by a good friend, “Why don’t you check the google reviews?” and it so happened that the reviews validated my own experience of the situation. Then on I used google reviews as an online manual to analyze a novel experience of service, like trying out a new salon, restaurant, doctor offices etc.
I started paying attention to the number of reviews that the reviewer had, made sure if they were a local guide and through that came to the conclusions of contributing and thereby amalgamating myself into the thread of the society surrounding me. Spreading positivism by lauding good service, encouraging growth by providing constructive and precise critique and by just being objective as I can is something, I find satisfaction in.
A Google guide is, among others things I am proud of being.