I am normally a very diplomatic person. I allow people to speak their mind without judging them. We don't all have to agree. I understand that... But today I was on the verge of losing it on the little regional Sky West plane from El Paso to Denver.
I sat next to this guy on the plane that made the hour and 20 minute ride from Texas to Colorado the world's worst plane ride. He seemed educated enough. We talked about his work with USAID and the USDA. Seemed like a pretty knowledgeable guy. Thought we'd have a lot in common. Until he told me, "You know, you've got three things working for you, you're a woman, you're American, and you're colored." .... Excuse me I'm what? Is it 1925? Colored? Really? .... And it was all downhill from there.
"Do you ever call your boyfriend Adolf because I do that a lot of my German colleagues. It really pisses them off." ... 0_o No actually. I tend to refrain from offensive remarks about Nazis and WWII. I can't ever imagine why one would anger at being called Adolf Hitler.
"... or maybe jokes about the Poles because those are normally better anyway...." OK. This is a joke right? This is a test from God, because I am about to lose.my.mind. ...up in here ... up in here...
"...and people shouldn't complain about Americans acting like we own everything because we do own 25% of everything. ..." ... So now 25% is everything? OK. Got it. Good to know.
"Wait...so your boyfriend doesn't want to live in America? Everyone wants to be American. American citizenship is the best thing you can have. I mean, I know people that marry folks in other countries and then give up their citizenship because they don't want to pay taxes to two countries. Well I say let them sell all their stuff here and never come back. If I were the president I'd make sure anyone who gave up their citizenship could never come back to this country." NO! EVERYONE DOESN'T WANT TO LIVE IN AMERICA BECAUSE THEY WANT TO AVOID IGNORANT BAFOONS LIKE YOU!!
*I pull out my book at an attempt to demonstrate that I would rather disengage any further conversation.* "Oh, reading a love novel huh?" ... (Since that's the only thing a 23-year-old woman woudl possibly read on a plane.) No. I'm reading Tears of the Desert. It's a memoir about survival in Darfur. "Oh. Who wrote that?" Halima Bashir. She's a refugee living in England. "I bet it's about how much she loves England." ... -____- No. Ignaramus. It's about survival in Darfur...like I said.
Needless to say, I didn't lose my mind. I kept my cool. There weren't enough seats on the plane and I would have been stuck in my little seat the remainder of the flight. However, after telling me he had just interviewed for a faculty position at NMSU I snuck a peak at the full name on his boarding pass. Upon deplaining, I promptly called the College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences to recommend that they absolutely NOT hire this man. The hiring manager was very appreciative of my call, shocked at his statements, and apologized that I was subjected to his ignorance for so long.
Hopefully this guys never gets another job in his life!
Was I wrong for not saying something? Should I have put him in place? Was I coward? These are serious questions. Please feel free to answer.
I sat next to this guy on the plane that made the hour and 20 minute ride from Texas to Colorado the world's worst plane ride. He seemed educated enough. We talked about his work with USAID and the USDA. Seemed like a pretty knowledgeable guy. Thought we'd have a lot in common. Until he told me, "You know, you've got three things working for you, you're a woman, you're American, and you're colored." .... Excuse me I'm what? Is it 1925? Colored? Really? .... And it was all downhill from there.
"Do you ever call your boyfriend Adolf because I do that a lot of my German colleagues. It really pisses them off." ... 0_o No actually. I tend to refrain from offensive remarks about Nazis and WWII. I can't ever imagine why one would anger at being called Adolf Hitler.
"... or maybe jokes about the Poles because those are normally better anyway...." OK. This is a joke right? This is a test from God, because I am about to lose.my.mind. ...up in here ... up in here...
"...and people shouldn't complain about Americans acting like we own everything because we do own 25% of everything. ..." ... So now 25% is everything? OK. Got it. Good to know.
"Wait...so your boyfriend doesn't want to live in America? Everyone wants to be American. American citizenship is the best thing you can have. I mean, I know people that marry folks in other countries and then give up their citizenship because they don't want to pay taxes to two countries. Well I say let them sell all their stuff here and never come back. If I were the president I'd make sure anyone who gave up their citizenship could never come back to this country." NO! EVERYONE DOESN'T WANT TO LIVE IN AMERICA BECAUSE THEY WANT TO AVOID IGNORANT BAFOONS LIKE YOU!!
*I pull out my book at an attempt to demonstrate that I would rather disengage any further conversation.* "Oh, reading a love novel huh?" ... (Since that's the only thing a 23-year-old woman woudl possibly read on a plane.) No. I'm reading Tears of the Desert. It's a memoir about survival in Darfur. "Oh. Who wrote that?" Halima Bashir. She's a refugee living in England. "I bet it's about how much she loves England." ... -____- No. Ignaramus. It's about survival in Darfur...like I said.
Needless to say, I didn't lose my mind. I kept my cool. There weren't enough seats on the plane and I would have been stuck in my little seat the remainder of the flight. However, after telling me he had just interviewed for a faculty position at NMSU I snuck a peak at the full name on his boarding pass. Upon deplaining, I promptly called the College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences to recommend that they absolutely NOT hire this man. The hiring manager was very appreciative of my call, shocked at his statements, and apologized that I was subjected to his ignorance for so long.
Hopefully this guys never gets another job in his life!
Was I wrong for not saying something? Should I have put him in place? Was I coward? These are serious questions. Please feel free to answer.
