Notes

Yesterday morning I was witness to a bit of casual racism which really got me annoyed and ready to rage at the dickhead who uttered it. There were no bad words used but, nonetheless, his confused intent got to me.

The Setup

The train was pulling into the station as I was waiting to board it with my fellow commuters. I have come to recognise a few of the people who are regulars on my train. One of which is a young lady I tend to notice, as she also gets off at the same station as me at the other end.

As we were boarding, another lady squeezed herself and her travel bag between the first lady and the train in order to get on quicker. The affected lady didn’t seem bothered as she wasn’t barged or anything.

However, a man stood just behind me decided to pipe up and make his thoughts heard.

The utterings of the opportunist racist

Man to lady : “I think she wants to get on there.”

The lady smiled politely.

Man to lady : “She must be important as she’s got her bags.”

Again, the lady acknowledged him but didn’t reply.

Man to lady : “You can tell she’s not British”.

You can tell she’s not British. Like… What the fuck? The lady who squeezed ahead didn’t say a word and to be honest, didn’t seem phased at all by his comments. And while I don’t condone squeezing past people in order to get their seat on a train, I condone even less any excuse for racism.

Firstly there was nothing about the woman to indicate she wasn’t British (whether she actually was or not is completely irrelevant). Secondly, I don’t even know if this idiot knew what he meant by the term “British”. I can guess what he thinks it means though.

In Closing

It really annoys me when people who could otherwise be smart, have this unfounded ideas of “us and them”. The seeds of which are usually planted by the mainstream media or in people’s filter bubbles in Facebook, twitter et al.

We as a people can solve so many complex ideas and theories, we can put people on the moon, but we can’t all get along in an open and friendly manner.

Today I took my mom to Middleton Hall for the afternoon and had a great time. After lunch in the small cafe, within the old stables, we ventured around the Hall itself and surrounding gardens.

It’s amazing how much interesting history is right there on your doorstep. For example the Middleton estate was leased to the Knight’s Templar in 1185 by the owners at the time, the de Marmion family. Also one of the commanders at the largest naval battle of World War One, The Battle of Jutland, was from the Willoughby family. The Willoughby family owned the Middleton estate for about 500 years.

Those are just two snippets but you can find out more on their website. Also one of the ladies working there was very knowledgeable on the whole subject. She gave us loads of facts and figures but I can’t lie – there was simply too much to take in during one sitting. But very helpful nonetheless.