I always assumed the man was just an older husband than I thought should be with her.

Which makes it more Gothic.

Considering how popular Pizza is, I can see it seeming like a trend.

Pizza!

I totally get why everyone uses American Gothic, but of course the painting isn't of a man and wife, it's a man and his daughter.

My mind is blown.

Hm, Wikipedia directs me to a Salon article:

His sister Nan, perhaps embarrassed about being depicted as the wife of a man twice her age, started telling people that Wood had envisioned the couple as father and daughter, not husband and wife. (Wood himself remained vague on this point.)

I always assumed the man was just an older husband than I thought should be with her.

Which makes it more Gothic.

Heh. I just looked it up in wikipedia, apparently the House behind them in the picture is of the Carpenter Gothic style.

In fact, here is a picture of the very house! [link]

I'm with Tommyrot. I feel like he's making Hil's job harder. If it was me I'd say, "seriously, stop with the Judaism questions, I have work to do." and if it happened again, "Am I going to have to take this to HR?"

His sister Nan, perhaps embarrassed about being depicted as the wife of a man twice her age, started telling people that Wood had envisioned the couple as father and daughter, not husband and wife. (Wood himself remained vague on this point.)

Curious.

The snow continues. CJ's school was closed mid-day and it looks like some schools might cancel proms which were scheduled for tomorrow.

I get the feeling Hil's office mate is just deeply socially awkward and unable to come up with something to talk about with her besides her Judaism, probably because she intimidates him for some reason.

I think we're someways beyond that. This has been going on too long and with many instances of going past awkwardly personal into actually offensive.

I think my plan is to try, for the next week, just ignoring or brushing off or otherwise not answering any of these questions, and see if he gets the point. Because I'm being a wuss, and I don't feel like starting an argument. If it doesn't work, then I'll talk to him about it directly.

I just spent far too long looking at Google image results for "American Gothic."

Getting other work done sounds like a good plan.

Funny thing about the American Gothic. Since I was exposed to it at such a young age, it never registered how much younger she was than him. As a youngster, they both looked old. Curious how perception changes.

Hil, you really need to start recording these conversations. 1) for HR to hear what a douchenozzle he is. 2) you might be able to sell it to some comedian for material. The shit he is saying is just so ridiculous, it's almost funny. Almost. Either way, something has to be said, it's clearly effecting you. Maybe you can ask if he has any vacation time coming up, because you'd love the silence from the idiotic, racist questions for a few days.