||G1 Blogging|| - Running Away = ¿Racism, Que?

Random thoughts as I lay here watching NCIS...

I was on my way to the mezanine to catch the elevator from the beach, and an older white couple was ahead of me. The husband was holding the door for me (without turning his back), and when I said thank you, here barely acknowledged my presence. They were walking pretty slow, I attributed the pace to the obvious scoliosis of the husband, so I patiently strolled behind them. Of course, we happened to be going the same way. The wife looked startled when she noticed I was still behind her, but I was nonchalantly fingering bits of sand out of my hair. I pressed the elevator button as they chatted quietly between each other, and when it arrived - I hopped inside and held the {{Door Open}} button. To my surprise, and sort of dismay, they hung back - and the wife kindly stuck her head in front of the door. "We'll take the next one," and stepped into the elevator next to mine.

Who Cares? Right?

I do. For the fact that growing up, we went to resorts often. As a family, my father's business trips brought us to various countries, states, hotels across the continent. Common courtesy back then was to hop in the first elevator available, and meet the people who are sharing a hotel with you. I expected that I would press their floor for them, polite conversation would ensue - and worst case, I'd meet someone new. Not anymore. I suppose all of that has died.

My question is - why are we still racist? In this day and age, what are we still afraid of? I would think, with all the "social networking"- the MySpacing, the Twittering, that we would all be friends, right? I guess I was wrong.

I remember right after Sept. 11, everyone was all about solidarity, unity, the American way. For the months following that tragic event, black people were catching cabs in NYC, people were pulling over and helping disabled vehicles - all that jazz. Then one day, it all stopped. We heard the words "Terrorist" and "Al Quaida," and the world became paranoid. Not to say racism wasn't rampant before, but I feel like race is being emphasized more today. People are back to being afraid of what they don't know, or understand.

||Tangent: I went home and brought some string cheese back to the hotel. Shhhh. Yummm.||

Okay, sorry. Anyway - yeah. People have resorted back to ignorance. Society has gone back to thinking all black people steal, all latinos are conmen, white people are pedophiles and rapists. How did we get this way? When did it become unsafe to ride the elevator with people, take cabs with strangers - or even eat at the same table in Benihana?

I think we all need a wake up call. The names Sotomayor, Clinton and Obama should mean so much right now. They should make us proud, happy even. This world should be leaning toward trust and brotherhood. How? Hold the door for the person behind you, help that old lady with her runaway shopping cart, press that door open button. Most importantly, get in that elevator. And smile.

{{And don't clutch your purse, either.}}