The Importance of Clarity in Conversations About Identity

I think there is genuinely, and I know this from personal experience, a hunger to not be constantly asked things like, what are you or where are you from? That is often the way conversations about identity, whether we like it or not in this country begin. How do you know it's the right time to ask? And do you ever feel yourself asking and then thinking, oh, geez, I shouldn't have gone there quite yet?"