So I was leaving My Favorites Stripclub (Non-Cover Edition). There are a bunch of guys that were just hanging out at the parking lot but broke up to go to their cars. As usual, I walk around my car, starting with the passenger side, just to make sure no one has done any stupid shit, like scratched the paint or put a ketchup pack behind a wheel or something.
When I do it this time I run right into these three douchebags whose car is parked right next to mine. They're wearing neon pink and green golf polos, you know, like a bunch of Rickie Folwers are walking my way. And one of these white assholes says to me, in the year 2014, "Ni hao, ni hao!" and everybody laughs.
Wanted to yell or pick a fight. All I could do is shake my head and mutter as I get into my car, "Ignorant racist motherfuckers." What do you do in a situation like that? This takes me back to all the times I was bullied. But to that point, I don't remember the last truly racist thing someone said to me. There was this one time a guy shoved me at a comic book store and when I stared back at him he started whooping Chinese "Wah!" sounds at me. There's also this frenemy, but we eat at fancy place once a week and he's been a friend, so he can't really count, so ... yeah, there was that time at a comic book store, which was at least a decade ago. That was the last time a racist thing was said to me.
And the thing is, this entitled prick is probably in his late twenties or early thirties -- younger than me. Assuming that he doesn't live in rural Minnesota -- his douchelord duds makes me think he lives in the suburbs, if not in the city -- he has to run into people who aren't white. He has to. SO WHY IN THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE CAN GET AWAY WITH SAYING RACIST SHIT LIKE THAT?!?! My God, we were at a stripclub in one of the poorest parts of the Twin Cities -- it's not crawling with only white people!!!
Oh my God, fuck this guy.
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Have I told you about this guy who always hangs out at My Favorite Late-Night Italian Place? He's a quiet gentleman who sits by himself once a week at this place. Nice, although he can kind of chatty, and really intrusive especially when I'm trying to work on my computer. But he has a good heart, and so we talk, mostly about sports.
After this run-in with Racist Asshole downtown, I went here. Saturdays are not the nights he's supposed to be here, so I was surprised when I pulled into the parking lot and saw his car (I've known him so long I know what his car looks like). But I haven't seen him in a while, and I like the dude, and I did kind of promise him that we'd see a Twins game together, so it was time to talk.
And we talked about a lot of things, most notably the Tony Stewart incident where he apparently killed a fellow driver. But before that, we talked about ... I think about our love of the NFL. And I don't know what led to this, but eventually he said, and I think I'm quoting: "... and I don't like that you hear so many of these black football players wind up broke after they're done playing."
Whoa.
I never thought this guy to be a bigot. And this is one of those cases where he said something so beyond the pale that I'm still in denial that he said it. Seriously, where the hell did that come from? I hope -- hope -- he regrets saying that. But, of course, this raises the question -- maybe it's not in doubt -- of whether he really just culls black football players in his mind into "broke and stupid." Regardless, I don't think I can see this guy, a meek man who, it turns out, has some prejudiced thoughts, in the same way ever again.
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I want to blame yesterday's bad day on the moon and be done with it.
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