“Where have you been all your life?”
Ansary explains, “Once, in a college gym class, a coach found my free-throw humorous.” Where have you been all your life, “ he guffawed, “Afghanistan?” When I said yes, he was taken aback; he thought Afghanistan was just an expression, like ultima Thule, meaning “off the map.” The coach’s reaction after Ansary’s affirmation about him being in Afghanistan is confirms he (the coach) had not predicted that his speculation would be concrete. Nonetheless, it validates the wide-ranging obliviousness regarding Afghanistan that emboldens omnipresent stereotypes and callousness towards Afghans.
“I Felt too shy”
Ansary undervalues his capability before distributing his e-mail: “I wanted to call that talk show, but when I came home, I felt too shy. I’d never spoken to the media at any level. So I went downstairs to my office and wrote an e-mail to a few friends. I poured out to them what I would have said to the public if I could have mustered the courage to call that talk show.” Here Ansary is discussing to the talk show subsidizing adverse views , which he does not endorse, concerning the Afghanis. However , his nervousness turns out to be an downright devaluation of himself: “ The following week, a representative of the Northern Alliance phone me. “ You have the ear of American media. You know how to say things. We know what things must be said .Let us work together. From now on, you must be the spokesman.” The representative’s explanations may be ironic considering Ansary’s concession regarding his naiveté with media. However, his thought-provoking writing qualifies him to be an unqualified spokesman for the Afghanis. Accordingly, the coyness is unfounded for it does not impact his ability to assert detached avowals regarding the exact condition in Afghanistan.
