Neal Stephenson Quote
Hiro would have chalked it all up to class differences, except that her parentslived in a house in Mexicali with a dirt floor, and his father made more moneythan many college professors. But the class idea still held sway in his mind,because class is more than income -- it has to do with knowing where you standin a web of social relationships. Juanita and her folks knew where they stoodwith a certitude that bordered on dementia. Hiro never knew. His father was asergeant major, his mother was a Korean woman whose people had been mine slavesin Nippon, and Hiro didn't know whether he was black or Asian or just plainArmy, whether he was rich or poor, educated or ignorant, talented or lucky. Hedidn't even have a part of the country to call home until he moved toCalifornia, which is about as specific as saying that you live in the NorthernHemisphere. In the end, it was probably his general disorientation that didthem in.
Hiro would have chalked it all up to class differences, except that her parentslived in a house in Mexicali with a dirt floor, and his father made more moneythan many college professors. But the class idea still held sway in his mind,because class is more than income -- it has to do with knowing where you standin a web of social relationships. Juanita and her folks knew where they stoodwith a certitude that bordered on dementia. Hiro never knew. His father was asergeant major, his mother was a Korean woman whose people had been mine slavesin Nippon, and Hiro didn't know whether he was black or Asian or just plainArmy, whether he was rich or poor, educated or ignorant, talented or lucky. Hedidn't even have a part of the country to call home until he moved toCalifornia, which is about as specific as saying that you live in the NorthernHemisphere. In the end, it was probably his general disorientation that didthem in.