Live and let Live?

So there I am... In some dodgy French hotel bar (actually that's not completely fair, it wasn't that bad, accept for coffee, which I had expected to be the only thing they were gonna get right!), winding away a few hours, partaking in a few sherbets, as you do (Ohhh kinda got hooked on Leffe Blonde, some Belgium silly strong Abbey Beer, very good), chatting and watching whatever was displayed on the communal super silly sized Bar TV. I guess, if you've gotta work away from home all week, thats what you've gotta do, right? (Thanx :o) )

Anyways, I'm there, drinking, chatting (and BB is gonna be so proud of me here), there was also some football being played out on the TV I was vaguely aware of (The blue team had lots of players, the white team also seemed to have lots, but the guys in Yellow only seemed to have three! Hardly fair!).

Now it turned out that the footy happened to be some kinda International, nope I've got no idea of the details accept for it was Israel playing someone else. Now, the only reason I know it was Israel was because I overheard the following conversation a group of aging English guys watching the game had with a very young (six your seven), little French boy.

English Twat "So which team do you want to win?"
French Boy "The team in white"
English Twat "Israel are playing in white"
French Boy "Yes I want Israel to win"
English Twat "You want the Jew Boys to Win?"
French Boy "Pardon?" [With a dodgy French accent]
English Twat "Are you a Little Jew Boy then?"
French Boy "Ummm..." [Obviously not understanding]
English Twat "We all hate the Jew Boys"
French Boy [Shuts up because he obviously doesn't understand anymore]

My response, after a few seconds to take stock of what the guy had just said, was to walk over (making myself look as big as possible by inflating my chest etc.), and to respond with "You make me embarrassed to be English"... I know, really weak, but it was all I could think of at the time, to many beers... They didn't say a word back, just look at me, looked down at their beer then looked away. (Obviously when I'd walked back ten feet or so I could vaguely make out there attempt at humorous responses in the background).

Events in my life this week have been dispersed with racism and prejudice of some kind or another and I know it's tough sometimes for us all not to stereotype, but it's a very slippery slope to tread. For who are we to judge others? What gives us the right to be critical of any man and his or her beliefs, lifestyles, or even the reason they are who they are? Are any of us perfect ourselves? No.

So why don't we just take the time to get to know these people when we get a chance to, take the time to try and understand them, after all isn't it true that after all is said and done, all any of us are trying to do is purely survive? This is our common bond with everyone, survival.

"Criticism is prejudice made plausible." - H.L.Mencken... Think about it...

Ciao Ciao Folks (and have a good weekend :o) )
Confused From Cambridge
I BLOG There4 I Am


NB. This in no way means I'm gonna start forgiving George Bush and that mob over there! (Before you even ask!! ;o) )