It's been awhile since I have written with all that goes on after being away from home for 2 months! I enjoy this so much though, that I am making time to write, if only for myself.
I was at Seattle Children's Hospital (as usual) this week and Steven and I were having a lunch break between 5 appointments. As we sat in the cafeteria we both watched the many and myriad types of folks coming in and out. Nurses, doctors, therapists, patients, parents......of all different colors. This is nothing unusual in our part of the world but I noticed it simply because so many gathered in their own "likeness".
I am not a political junky like my husband and he can fact me under the table, but I have my own little box of knowledge and political correctness is something I cannot stand. It takes the dignity of our God given humanity from us. The reason I mention it is because I saw something that could have been thought of as exclusionary but it was actually something lovely.
At a table across from ours sat a couple of folks speaking Spanish. After awhile it became a table of 8 all speaking Spanish. The inhabitants were physicians, nurses, and other medical personnel. It struck me how nice it must be if English is your second language to have lunch and relax with others who are like you in some way. To be able to just converse without having to think must be nice and feel so normal after speaking all morning in a second language. In their positions in the hospital they probably speak using their bi-lingual abilities or maybe not, maybe all in English. I thought it was so nice they could just have lunch and gab away in their native tongue.
Now, I realize the media are the ones who often make most of the mountains out of mole hills in race relations, but there are those who could object to the scene I described by saying it was exclusionary. I sat there thinking about how New York City was many years ago with Little Italy, China Town and all the areas designated for a particular ethnic group such as Polish, Irish, Puerto Rican. Was it exclusionary or was it a family of families? A security in a new world. I think this is a lovely thing.
I saw it too when we were at Ronald McDonald House in New York. Those whose native language was Spanish tended to migrate towards each other because of something shared. Those who were black did the same. All of them also visited with everyone else but they held a common bond to some residents and I imagine it was very relaxing and comfortable in a difficult time.
I know there are still those who, sadly, are racist. But I do not believe there are as many as the media would like to stir up with their politically correct accusations . My husband is a mailman and his office is made up of every nationality on the planet practically. They tell racial jokes all the time....about themselves and each other. There are no racists there; only fun and camaraderie. If someone were to walk in they might be shocked but the letter carriers all know they like one another and are laughing at the things that make us different. This is NOT racism.
I believe there should be clubs and groups of only one race or sex. I do not think it is racist or sexist to have all of one kind of anything. So much of life is about how you look at something. Are you being excluded or are you just not a turtle in a group of turtles? How about a group of musicians? Can a non-musician who cannot hold a tune or play an instrument litigate his way into the band?? This race business has exploded into stupidity in so many ways. I say again however, I KNOW there are still idiots who are racist and their malicious ways are not what I am writing about here. I am talking about perceptions.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my observation from the other day and that I am thankful I could see the warm fuzzies in it as opposed to feeling left out. We have to relax, we need to attempt to see the good in a given situation and if we can't, work on it. I believe it's our current social obsession with self that makes us see things in terms of ourselves first instead of others first. This is not healthy.
I would love to see a whole book on all the interracial positive actions, collaborations etc. I have my own stories from my family both white to black and black to white. I know many friends who have the same. Hey....maybe I'll write the book!
~Blessings~
Lisa
Lisa, that was beautiful.
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