first step

I was very upset at work today due to some blatant discrimination. I work with this wisecracker D. who's usually a very crass guy and pretty fun to be around when he's making fun of somebody else. It's usually in pretty good taste and he seems to know where the line is, but today I felt like he really crossed over into territory that would be grounds for racial and ageist discrimination.

Perhaps my sensitivity has been heightened because of watching Inglourious Basterds, but I always feel like when somebody takes that first step in the wrong direction, it's high time to make them notice it before it starts getting out of hand. D. didn't even say hello to me when I walked into the unit this morning and then started ranting about text messaging, Facebook, and Twitter, and how "our kind" were taking over the world.

The other two individuals milling about D. sought clarification: What does "our kind" refer to? One guessed based on age and said the young seem to go wrong so early and have so much disrespect for how the world is organized. The other guessed that D. was referring to technological advances and how Asians are at the forefront of technological innovation. D. then started going on about how my "Red Army" would start becoming the next planetary superpower.

I began by clarifying that I am actually half-Taiwanese and half-Chinese and born here in this here democratic country, thus annihilating my Asian past and actually making me a Canadian (hurrah multiculturalism). If I were to pick an Asian side to identify with, it would be Taiwan for natural reasons - their political stance for starters (also their basketball prospects). D. responded with, "Taiwan, China - they're all essentially the same." At this point, I was looking at him askew giving him that eye that tells a person that they're testing my patience. I told him, "I think you're walking a fine line here." D. started to kind of back off, but the thing that irked me the most was that the other two people in the conversation didn't even care. I really abhor a climate of apathy, especially in the face of prejudice.

Later on in the day, after Sijie cheered me up, D. came walking around and we joked together. I'm pretty certain no harm was meant by this exchange, but it just goes to show that 1. I can be pretty sensitive 2. Discrimination is really easy to perform without even knowing you're doing it 3. You can never be too safe with what you say and most importantly 4. When you encounter some like this make it known. It's better to nip the entire thing in the bud before it reaches Nazi-istic proportions and you have to hire Brad Pitt to clean up the mess.

I always believe in standing up.