I purposely skipped ahead and put my flame retardant suit specifically for this...
I DO NOT have ANY problem with muslims, or any peoples of Middle-Eastern countries, or anyone outside of my own ethnicity for that matter. Firstly... how many Americans had a fear of them prior to 9-11? Without a show of hands, I'm sure it was not near as many as afterwards. Why? For what reason? Now for the sake of the point, and also to show how ignorant some 'people' can really be. (actually there are many that I could think of... just from reading a couple of the posts here but)
I had been working in a retail location prior to 9-11 for quite some time, and I had gotten to the point of knowing most of the regulars on a first name basis... it is a pretty diverse locale ethnically, and there are a few Middle-Eastern families that were always stopping in to purchase goods and one gentleman that was a regular maintenance guy (for lack of a better term) that I had later learned was from Iraq and moved here during Desert Storm.
Anyway, it really didn't dawn on me until months later... when I was checking things out for spring that he had not been in to service our system. I asked my boss (at the time) what was up, and I had gotten a response something in the order of this:
"Well, you know, (Mr. X) is an Iraqi, and he has had to suspend his works due to being harassed by various citizens." That was a shocker to me, he was a really nice guy working hard for a living here in the states... just because of his nationality he was stereotyped into being a "terrorist" and almost lost everything he had built for his family. That kind of mentality literally makes me sick, and yet we all wonder why we can't have world peace.
The other few that come in, well... mostly they gotten ignored enough from some of our management that now they seem to wait patiently in line to talk to me. Why is that so? Is nobody else willing to give them the time of day or give them the same respect we would only hope to have likewise? This isn't with just Middle-Easterners, I see the same thing with Hispanics... et al. Most of the time I dare not to go into rants on the price of gas... as everyone that comes in is complaining about it, as there is always one or two of the gung-ho's that decide to get into the conversation, and the only thing they have to offer is the mentality and rhetoric "les jus go in dere and turn all dat sand to glass, an we can have all da oil we need."
I guess, stupid is as stupid does, Forrest... maybe next time some of ya's will see the trees.
That ends my rant for the day, if I managed to get some of you mad... then great...! If you wish to attack me, you should know I will be long gone from this thread by the time you read this, but on the other hand if I have made at least one of you think, then my job here is done...
It's Miller Time anyway... Cheers,
T-



