Racist old ladies
I went to a jumble sale today (total haul: one box of dominos, an antique Happy Families game, and a Stork Margarine 'Gayer Cakes with Fine Icing' promotional book circa 1950), and waiting outside for it to start (im not usually that sad but there had been one on before it down the road, so...) there were two old ladies having a conversation (might i add that this was a very small room, the size of a lift, maybe, and was filled with atleast 10 other people besides myself). Im not proud of it but i tend to find myself listening in on conversations when they are right next to my ears in the tiny crowded foyer of a town hall. I was somewhat surprised to hear in these intimate surroundings the most racist conversation i have ever heard in my entire life! It was almost a privilege to witness such outmoded and incorrect views on British life. Well, almost.
Amongst these two pinnacles of society's declarations were such gems as:
-all Chinese people have TB
-you don't want to eat Chinese food as you can never be sure you're not eating dog
-all the schools in this country are full of foreigners
-all foreigners are dirty and diseased
-all foreigners complain about living in England
-school dinners are filth
-South Africa is much better because you have to pay for education and they don't have school dinners
-It's a disgrace
They said other things but those were the ones i can remember before my ears started ringing from the strain of not having an outburst.
Which leads me to a conundrum. What DO you say to someone if they are voicing views around you which are so opposite to what you see as the truth, and so hilariously offensive? And what if they are not voicing them to you, but just next to you, are you in the wrong by eavesdropping? I feel i must formulate a plan of attack for just this kind of situation, somehow launching it back at them, but how?
Anyway, as the doors opened and we were ushered in, someone said "good luck!", and the taller (and i think, leader) of these ROLs (Racist old ladies) announced "I don't believe in luck, i believe in jesus!"
Amongst these two pinnacles of society's declarations were such gems as:
-all Chinese people have TB
-you don't want to eat Chinese food as you can never be sure you're not eating dog
-all the schools in this country are full of foreigners
-all foreigners are dirty and diseased
-all foreigners complain about living in England
-school dinners are filth
-South Africa is much better because you have to pay for education and they don't have school dinners
-It's a disgrace
They said other things but those were the ones i can remember before my ears started ringing from the strain of not having an outburst.
Which leads me to a conundrum. What DO you say to someone if they are voicing views around you which are so opposite to what you see as the truth, and so hilariously offensive? And what if they are not voicing them to you, but just next to you, are you in the wrong by eavesdropping? I feel i must formulate a plan of attack for just this kind of situation, somehow launching it back at them, but how?
Anyway, as the doors opened and we were ushered in, someone said "good luck!", and the taller (and i think, leader) of these ROLs (Racist old ladies) announced "I don't believe in luck, i believe in jesus!"
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