It's smackin' time!
Apr. 12th, 2006 10:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pasitheaGrr. Ya'know. Some people really piss me off.
I'm not really a big fan of cell phone users but this isn't going quite where you might think it is.
On the train there's always people talking on their cell-phones. I can hear at least 2 different conversations right now. So it didn't bother or surprise me that the woman across the aisle from me was talking discretely on her phone. What DID surprise me was the guy in front of me suddenly yelling at her,
"Hey lady! LADY! Give us a break! Stop talking on your phone or at least talk slower".... See, she wasn't speaking ENGLISH. That seemed to be this asshat's problem with her conversation. The way he said, "Or at least talk slower" was just seething with racism.
Bad call. Don't do that in front of a purple-haired freak. Especially not if you're sitting in the seat right in front of her.
I proceeded to comment loudly on the racism implied in the statement and analyze it's content, and what kind of person makes that sort of statement. Speculation on the sort of job he must have, and then a running commentary about whether or not his hair was a toupee or a combover. I finally 'decided' it was a combover and then went on a bit about how pathetic combovers are and how if I were losing my hair I'd shave my head.
Some days you can't tell the crazy people from the cell phone users. :)
For some reason, he moved to a different car at the next stop. He glared back at me once on his way and I shot him a great big smile.
Fucking dumpy-ass little suburbanite shit. That woman rides the train every day and she was too polite to say anything about what he said but you could tell what he said had stung her. Once I harassed him off, I caught her attention and said, "Hey. That creep is gone." Which I guess was really my way of saying, "Please don't let a racist asshole ruin your day. He's not worth it."
I really sort of hope I see him at the station. I'm limited in what I can say on the train but once we're on the sidewalk, it's fair game.
In a lot of ways it feels good to be the kind of person who isn't afraid to call people on stuff. In others, it worries me. I've been 'fighting' a lot lately. Hard to know that it isn't just me. I'd hate to think I'd become just a blind raging loon. I often feel that only a hair's breadth separates me from being the crazy homeless person, and today I didn't bring MY cel phone, so I really was talking out loud to myself.
But what I mean is, how do I know this was ment as a racist comment? White guy, indian woman. I've heard the 'they talk to fast', 'gibberish' type comments before in contexts that were absolutely racist, so that probably influenced my opinion of what he said. On the other hand, why would you ask someone to talk 'slower' on their cel phone? You like to ease drop? I dunno. I think my instinct was right about this guy. Certainly his tone, attitude, style of dress, and overall demeanor matched people I was familiar with in the past who were racist. Still. I worry I'm making too many snap judgements lately.
I'm not really a big fan of cell phone users but this isn't going quite where you might think it is.
On the train there's always people talking on their cell-phones. I can hear at least 2 different conversations right now. So it didn't bother or surprise me that the woman across the aisle from me was talking discretely on her phone. What DID surprise me was the guy in front of me suddenly yelling at her,
"Hey lady! LADY! Give us a break! Stop talking on your phone or at least talk slower".... See, she wasn't speaking ENGLISH. That seemed to be this asshat's problem with her conversation. The way he said, "Or at least talk slower" was just seething with racism.
Bad call. Don't do that in front of a purple-haired freak. Especially not if you're sitting in the seat right in front of her.
I proceeded to comment loudly on the racism implied in the statement and analyze it's content, and what kind of person makes that sort of statement. Speculation on the sort of job he must have, and then a running commentary about whether or not his hair was a toupee or a combover. I finally 'decided' it was a combover and then went on a bit about how pathetic combovers are and how if I were losing my hair I'd shave my head.
Some days you can't tell the crazy people from the cell phone users. :)
For some reason, he moved to a different car at the next stop. He glared back at me once on his way and I shot him a great big smile.
Fucking dumpy-ass little suburbanite shit. That woman rides the train every day and she was too polite to say anything about what he said but you could tell what he said had stung her. Once I harassed him off, I caught her attention and said, "Hey. That creep is gone." Which I guess was really my way of saying, "Please don't let a racist asshole ruin your day. He's not worth it."
I really sort of hope I see him at the station. I'm limited in what I can say on the train but once we're on the sidewalk, it's fair game.
In a lot of ways it feels good to be the kind of person who isn't afraid to call people on stuff. In others, it worries me. I've been 'fighting' a lot lately. Hard to know that it isn't just me. I'd hate to think I'd become just a blind raging loon. I often feel that only a hair's breadth separates me from being the crazy homeless person, and today I didn't bring MY cel phone, so I really was talking out loud to myself.
But what I mean is, how do I know this was ment as a racist comment? White guy, indian woman. I've heard the 'they talk to fast', 'gibberish' type comments before in contexts that were absolutely racist, so that probably influenced my opinion of what he said. On the other hand, why would you ask someone to talk 'slower' on their cel phone? You like to ease drop? I dunno. I think my instinct was right about this guy. Certainly his tone, attitude, style of dress, and overall demeanor matched people I was familiar with in the past who were racist. Still. I worry I'm making too many snap judgements lately.
