I am part of a graduate study group assigned to present papers, reports, and such at the university I'm working on my Masters at. The following story is what happened Saturday morning, while I was waiting for/working with my group at a particular coffee shop near a different, state-supported university. Elliot asked if I would relay it to you fine folks, as this type of thing goes on literally all the time. Read on:
So there I am, studying and preparing with my group at that coffee shop that I told you about, proudly wearing my Sayaret Givati recon shirt.
First off, all I got was evil looks from a few folks that looked like professor-types. I acknowledged their existence and attention with a courteous and professional nod. One of them walked by on his way to get a refill and muttered, "Homo..." At that time, a member of my group (25 year old female, not at all hard to look at) arrived and greeted me with a hug and a kiss on the cheek (not unusual, and not anything sexual). I went to refill my drink and whispered to the gentleman, "Guess again." I sat back down before his order was done, as it's a whole lot faster to refill a cup of Dr. Pepper than it is to manufacture a double-whammy Fleuvian-bean latte mocha with almond chips and cinnamon sprinkles (and who's the homo again?). On the way back, he said, "You're probably racist." FIve minutes later, the other member of my small group arrived, a stunningly beautiful black lady of about 35 to 40 years. We, too, greeted with hugs and such. I looked over at the table of professor types and said loudly enough for most to hear, "You know, for all your apparent education, you sure are a judgmental dumba$$. Furthermore, I bet you go on and on about "tolerance" when you're presuming to educate all those young, impressionable minds over at that ivory tower." Two of the other professor-types laughed, but he and another one just turned beet red with obvious rage. My two companions asked me quietly what was going on. I explained, and they laughed heartily, which simply further embarrassed the goofy ones. We got down to the academic business at hand then.
Somewhere along the line, the professors left, and sure enough, a group consisting of a mixture of wannabe-hippies and a couple of Arabic looking fellows had entered. The evil looks and glares from them would have actually been funny, if they weren't so pathetic. I was simply ignoring them, as I was engrossed in the topic at hand and beginning to have some real insights. However, my companions remarked that they were beginning to get a bit uncomfortable from the attention. So I walked over to their table, introduced myself, and offered my hand for a handshake. Believe it or not Elliot, I was being sincere in trying to show goodwill and non-judgment. One of the hippies actually took my hand and shook it, which showed me that at least he was raised right. Around my parts growing up, refusing a handshake was tantamount to challenging a person to a duel to the death. As the saying goes, "Never refuse a man's handshake. Fight him to the death afterward if you must, but shake his hand first." So there's at least hope for the one guy. The others just tried to continue glaring, but couldn't maintain eye contact. Perhaps it was the proximity.... In any event, I remarked that the ladies were uncomfortable with the looks they were casting our way, and asked politely if they might consider stopping, or if perhaps we had done something to offend them. The bolder one among them said, "You walk in here wearing an Israeli t-shirt, and have all these Christian textbooks out. How can we not feel threatened?" I asked if there was something about either Isreal or Christianity that they found threatening. He launched into the typical line about Zionist America's oppression of this group and that, and so on. I remarked that I bet he knew the professor that was in there earlier, but didn't elaborate. I asked if anyone at the table had ever travelled overseas, to ANYWHERE. Negatives all around. So these are all American born and bred idiots, rather than imported idiots. I followed by stating that I had been all over the world, both on Uncle Sam's dime and my own dime, and told them about legitimate oppression and terrorism that took place EVERYWHERE BUT HERE. I told them about Christians and Jews having to publically hide their identities, not from fear of ridicule, but from FEAR OF DEATH. Simply because of their faith. I said how glad I was to be back in the States, where I could practice my faith openly, and engage in civil debate and mutual learning with other people with no fear of reprisal or judgment, then added, "Or so I thought. Tolerance, huh? You make me want to vomit. In the words of Bob Geldof in 'The Wall,' 'You fill me with the urge to defecate.'" I'm not sure, but I think they were suitably embarrassed. Don't really care either way.
The manager of the shop came up to me after a sat back down, and I thought, "Oh, man. More trouble." However, it seems that she is of Jewish decent and faith, and said that our group could stay as long as we liked, and enjoy free refills of our beverages anytime we wanted to meet there again. Apparently, she gets more than her fill of the liberal a$$holes spouting crap in there, and was glad to see some folks who valued free expression also.
Can't wait until next Saturday!
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