Just a couple of thoughts/experiences I wanted to share. They may or may not be considered relevant in any way by you, the reader. If not, feel free to scroll on by.
1) When I was 18 and a freshman in college, some of my friends were still seniors in high school. One evening a group of us went to see a concert at the high school. Afterwards, we were walking, off campus, to our cars, and, along with a couple of the other, was smoking a cigarette. A local waitress approached us and demanded to see our ID's to prove to her that we were old enough to legally smoke. Since she wasn't a police officer, she had no right to ask us, and we had no obligation to show her. I didn't answer her in a civil, humble, kind way, as her demand was not made in a civil, humble, or kind way. I answered her with the same tone of disrespect as she had used when she demanded to see my ID. She was also someone who wanted to be police officer, and overstepped her boundaries as a private citizen. Just like GZ, only thank goodness she didn't shoot me for being a smoker.
2) My husband used to work in a little mom and pop grocery store in Denver. One afternoon, an elderly African-American man bought one small item. My husband just handed it to him without bagging it. The man handed the item back and asked for a bag for it. My husband gave him one but had a quizzical look on his face. The man said, "My mama always taught me to make sure you get a bag from the store so you won't be accused of stealing." How sad that decades later, as an elderly man, he still felt he needed to do that. Racial profiling continues to be an issue to this day.
Sad that we as a society and individuals haven't moved past that kind of ridiculousness. :cow:
