War and Suspicion

It was such a hot day yesterday so I decided to ride a taxi on my way to the Toy Convention.

As I hailed a taxi and got in, I noticed the driver had a resemblance to the people in the Middle East. Immediately, my heart raced with fear and suspicion. As I was sitting at the back seat, my mind was whirling with suspicious thoughts. Like, “What will I do if he does something?” or “How will I defend myself?” The only thing of use that I had was my umbrella and I held on to it tightly.

But as the minutes flew by, I realized I was being paranoid. He driver wasn’t doing anything suspicious. He wasn’t even talking to me. Even as I got off the taxi nothing out of the ordinary happened. So why was I so jittery?

The reason hit me and I winced in chagrin. Just because a person looked like a terrorist I have acted foolishly. I immediately suspected him of things that I didn’t have any right to.

When have I become so racist? When have I mistrusted people based on their looks? This realization is shaming.

Is this what war does to people?

If so, I have to learn how to erase the stigma of judging people based on how they look like. Otherwise, I myself will not win this battle.

June 18th, 2006 |