I had a disappointing experienced the other day. I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me since I generally surround myself with non-bigots, so my life tends to be a bit insulated, but still.
I was at the Texas state fair with my family, and my daughter and I were in line to get on one of the rides. A Hispanic gentleman and his wife/GF explained in somewhat broken English that their two sons were already in line, and they were asking if they could pass so that all four could ride together. I had no problem with that, so I motioned him on. I could see the two kids, hear them talking, etc. Clearly, they were together.
As soon as the couple passed out of earshot, the guy in front of me turns back and asked if I had actually seen the kids they were going to join. He said that the man was looking down at the ground and smiling like he was getting away with something. I assured him that I had seen the kids further in the line, and that I speak Spanish and understood the conversation. The guy proceeds to explain the rationale behind his skepticism by telling me, “First they jump across the border illegally, and then they want to jump to the front of the line.”
I said, “Uhhhhh. Wellll.” I know. Rather and eloquent response, eh? First, I couldn’t think where to begin. Then, I realized that there wasn’t really any point in beginning. What I wanted to ask was:
- “If you were living in another country, and you knew that life for you and your family would be significantly better if you came here, even illegally. Wouldn’t you?”
- “How do you know he’s not here legally?”
- “Can you really correlate illegal border crossing with line jumping at state fairs?”
Is a little bit of thought too much to ask for?