As soon as I get my membership approved via the MRT open forums, I will be sure to blog there as well. To tell my story about this woman who tried in vain to make my family and I feel like second-class citizens by sounding off a racist remark - and she did it under her breath - which was not just wrong but very cowardly of her.
The scary thing right now is that a lot of racial terms are being spewed out by certain types of ppl all in the name of something else. Whether ppl are really upset over big government (not as big as when "W" and his cronies were holding the White House hostage for 8 long, miserable years), health care reform, the "birthers" who claim Prez Obama is not a U.S. citizen (poor, ignorant ppl), or those who are now voicing regret at having a black man for president, the fact is that racial tensions are getting bad. Last bit of proof when Prez Obama was called a liar by Joe Wilson the other day in the House Chamber. We fret and are saddened by the way ppl like Joe blame health-care reform when we know it is not reform which bugs Joe. Had it been "W" who was called a liar by a Dem (esp a black Dem), the GOP would have cried "bloody-murder" and started some form of radical punishment of would-be offender.
Anyway, back to this ignoramus of a woman at Sam's. The incident occurred on Saturday 09-05-09 between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM. She was pushing a shopping cart which had space for her two kids (a male & a female probably between 4 and 6 years of age). Her husband was following her around. My sister Josie, my brother-in-law Jabier, Sara and I had arrived at Sam's to pick up a birthday cake for our 75 year old Mom whose surprise birthday party we were hosting for her later that evening. The 4 of us had lunch first before we went to the bakery dept to get the cake. As is more often usual than not, no employees were to be found so we waited around. There were two ladies ahead of us, both Hispanic like us, which will later be an important part of this story. Because we were second in line, we were standing a little bit outside the area but not too far into the main aisle where other customers could not easily pass by us. Well, apparently that one lady thought she owned the entire store (probably cited eminent domain as her reasoning) and she blatantly ran her shopping cart, with two kids in tow and all, into my sisters side. Her and her husband must have known they did this and probably thought they had just cause because unknowing to what they had just done to my sister, I happened to look up ahead to where the couple was heading (veggie dept) and the lady gave me a really wicked look and asked if I had a problem. My sister had just mentioned to us what they did so I replied to the couple that they hit my sister. They denied it and started saying some stupid things. They were yelling at us. I told them they should be ashamed as they had their children with them and they were obviously setting a negative example. They kept yelling and acting very foolishly so I added that may God bless them. It was ridiculous, upsetting and embarrassing for us. The couple (who was white in case I forgot to mention it before) looked really ticked off and as if it was no big deal that they were acting this way. My guess would be that they probably get into arguments with others all the time and probably with one another as well. Their children looked scared. They walked further away towards the meat dept so I thought all was done until I saw my sister move a little ways from where we were still standing near the bakery dept and she said (and I quote)...'Ma'am, you did not have to say that'...I asked Josie what had the couple said or done. My sister Josie said that the lady had called us a bunch of "damned Mexicans". Like I wrote in the paragraph above, the lady said it in a manner in which she may have thought we would not hear, but my sister has excellent hearing and she did indeed hear it. Josie, for those who know her, is very friendly, peaceful, lovable, law-abiding, and as close to a true Christian one could hope to be. She is not one to look for trouble, she is the one who tries to bring solutions to a table and one who tries to keep others from fighting or such. For her to have to defend her family and herself in such a manner is really sad - it is sad for that one ignorant woman and her own family who heard those words come out of her mouth. It was quite evident that this woman and her husband knew that they had done something really awful as they hurried away to some other part of the store. Josie did not follow them because it is not her character. I did not follow them either as I normally would because of the children they had with them and because I was not going to allow anyone to ruin that day that we had planned for so many weeks to celebrate our beloved Mother's 75th birthday. A day that we wanted to honor Mom and give thanks to the Lord for keeping her with us on this earth. For letting us find the right Dr. and the right treatment for Mom after months of not knowing what was plaguing her health that we almost lost her. We had too much to celebrate and too much to be grateful for and this one foolish woman and her husband were not going to rob us of that so we let it go. Now remember the two Hispanic ladies ahead of us in the bakery line, they also heard all of this and were shocked by such actions of the white couple and that the woman had allowed such trash to leave her mouth. They were as disgusted as we were and hopefully as others in the store were that day who heard that woman's comments.
Never in my 43 years of life had I ever been victim to a racial slur. Being a cleft-palate, I had endured much taunting about that, but never because of the color of my skin. Not to my face (or as close to my face as the cowardly woman said it under her breath). It offended me and it upset me. Those kind of feelings were new to me and it took every ounce of bravery to denounce the woman's actions and indeed turn the other cheek.
I felt bad for my sister because I knew she felt all of these things if not more as she was the one to hear those foolish words of belligerence. She is too smart and too classy to succumb to the kind of actions that are the apparent nature and character of that woman.
If that woman ever reads this blog posting or one I will surely place on a Midland, Texas forum, she should know that she did not break us. She did not shame us. She did not scare us. She did not make us cry. She made us stronger and more tolerant of her kind. We went home and had a fantastic party. Later that evening, I am as certain as the fact that taxes will never end, that my sister, my brother-in-law, that my entire family who showed up for our Mom's party and were appalled and taken aback by the actions of such a woman, that everyone went to their respective homes and prayed for this woman just as I did.
Shame on her, her husband and may the Lord have mercy on her going forward and may her children remember that day and their parent's actions and their mother's words and one day refrain from ever acting as such or from saying such demeaning words. Those kind of words never demean the ppl they are shouted at, they demean they very person who stupidly allows the words to flow so freely from their mouths.
In the end, my family and I came out ahead of all of this and are the better ppl for it. But as the mighty Edward Bulwer-Lytton said in his play, "the pen is mightier than the sword"...I promised myself to blog about the incident so that the woman remembers it and maybe will be regretful of it. So that she reads it and maybe accepts blame and shame - the same kind of shame she tried to throw our way on that fateful day at Sam's Club in Midland, Texas.
Shame on you whomever you are...GBY.
