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9. Disproportionate Sampling

I mentioned in the early segment in this series that there was a balanced ratio of male and female students at Berea College.  That was an oversimplification and really did not address the difficult situation the male students from Hong Kong had to face.  There were at least a dozen or so male students from Hong Kong and only 3-4 female students from Hong Kong.  There was one girl from Taiwan.  She was considered beautiful by many, and was voted Homecoming Queen of 1972, and rather promptly married to an American student in the following year.  So as far as Hong Kong students were concerned, there was a structural imbalance in the gender ratio.  As was often the case, when demand exceeded supply, competition became intense.   I was not a competitive person by nature, plus I was a firm believer of affirmative action in matters of social intercourse, so I chose to focus my attention on the more plentiful local female students.  While this approach should be considered reasonable and fully justified, it did cause a feeling of unease among some Hong Kong students.  They felt that I was discriminating against our female compatriots.  This was simply not true, and I would take this opportunity to set the record straight.

During my three years at Berea, I dated four students; one was from Hong Kong – that is 25%.  The proportion of female students from Hong Kong was no more than 1% of the total female population.  So statistically speaking, my sample was far from being random; it was skewed heavily in favor of students from Hong Kong.  While I did not expect a medal of honor for my “heroic” behavior, I would maintain that my Hong Kong schoolmates should have examined the relevant statistics before they opined that I was “pro-American” or “unpatriotic”.

My readers might be interested to know a bit more about this particular female student from Hong Kong.  I will not disclose her identity as a gentleman must always exercise his discretions and good-taste.  Because of the gender imbalance, a girl from Hong Kong would generally have more than one suitor, and XX was no exception.  The following dialog took place on the backseat of my New Yorker on a dark Friday night:

“Guess who tried to ask me out just a few days ago?” she said in her usual mellow tone while removing her hair clip, unleashing her long straight black hair that would then cover much of her chest.

“Who?”  (Yeah, tell me who it’s, so I can kick his butt!!)

“Lin Chi Chung,” she whispered. 

“Lin Chi Chung!  My friend Lin Chi Chung!  NO WAY!”  I was genuinely surprised.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“I don’t know…he doesn’t seem like he will do something like that!”

(Short pause) “Well, did you go out with him?”

“No, not this time,” she said coyly.

“What do you mean – not this time?”  (A fair question under the circumstances.)

“Well, you obviously don’t know your friend as much as you think…”

(I didn’t respond because I knew she’s got more to tell.)

“I went out with him once...sometime ago, before you came to Berea,” she continued.

“Really? – just once?” I felt compelled to ask.  “What happened?”

“He’s not my type!” she said, “So when he asked me again a few days ago, I said no.”

“Did he know that you and I are together?” I asked.

“Yes, I’m pretty sure he knew.  In fact, I think that’s why he tried to ask me again.”

“Hmmm…how was he like…I mean when you went out with him last time?”

“I told you he’s not my type,” she said looking at me in the dark.

“But was he nice?”  I looked at her, wondering if she would consider me her type!

(Silence)

“Well, tell me – what was he like?”  I was genuinely curious about the subject in question because I always thought that Lin Chi Chung was a man dedicated to science and that his only interest in sex was (for lack of a better term) on a “molecular” level.

“Well…he was rather determined,” she chose her words carefully.

“Determined?”  (What did she mean?)

“Persistent.”

“Oh…persistent!”  (I began to understand what she’s referring to.)  “Is that good or bad, being persistent?” (I was aware that I too could be very persistent at times.)

“It all depends,” she answered, with a mysterious “Mona Lisa” smile on her face.

I decided at this point that our conversation wouldn’t get much farther, so I left it at that, and reached over to the front of the car and turned on the car radio for some midnight jazz.

- The end -