Regarding the bias against anime, I think it's pretty common, especially for people whose cultural scope are not very broad. For the majority of Americans, the stereotype is that anime is the province of immature nerds and therefore not "cool" to get close to. As for the origin of this stereotype, I think. partly is that they assume it's as shallow as GI Joe, unfit for adults. Also, it maybe a social thing. A lot of orignal fans of anime were considered "nerds." Because of this association, those who regards themselves as affliated with the "in" crowd usually never gets exposed to anime because they wouldn't think to be caught participating in any "nerdish" activities.

I don't know what's the situation with Chris' co-workers and I wonder whether they enjoy other foreign-influenced or sophisicated cultural materials. It's too bad that the future teachers are like this.