Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse when it comes to hatred and bigotry in this country, something good happens.
Check this out (this is the link to the entire story with videos, but you’ll have to register. Sorry. Other news outlets have picked up a piece of the story, so if you’re interested, just search for “Riverside barista refuses”):
A Riverside [Calif.] barista refused to serve a man who blasted a Muslim woman wearing traditional attire during a tense coffee shop confrontation captured in a video that’s been seen more than 2 million times.
The 1 minute, 33-second video is titled, “Coffee shop refuses service to man making Islamaphobic comments,” had piled up views on social media and was continuing to garner attention Tuesday, May 15.
It was first posted May 9 by Kathleen Deady, a 27-year-old Riverside woman who said she is the videographer and victim in the incident at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in the Riverside Plaza.
Deady apparently was confronted while ordering tea because she was wearing a niqab, which covers all the face except for the eyes, and a jilbaab that covers the body.
The confrontation was unpleasant, Deady said, but upon reflection she’s glad it happened.
“It’s given over 2 million people the opportunity to really question how open minded they are with the Muslim community,” she said.
Continue reading and you’ll see that many customers shouted this bigot down until he left.
I wish I could say this totally restores my faith Americans, but it doesn’t. We still have too many cases of blatant bigotry, such as the Yale dorm resident who called the police because a black woman fell asleep in a common room. (According to new reports, it was late at night and the lights in the common room were out, so how this Yale bigot knew the woman was sleeping there is beyond me. Turns out the woman was working on some papers and fell asleep.)
Or there’s the instance where two black men were sitting in a Philadelphia Starbucks waiting for a friend when the police were called and the men were escorted out. (Turns out these guys have more class than the Starbucks worker who called the cops. They could have made a big deal about this and sued the heck out of the company. Instead, they settled with the city for $1 each and a promise from officials to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs.)
And, unfortunately, the list goes on and on.
So, maybe some hope does still exist for Americans. But I’m not holding my breath.
my3centsworth.com 