I Believe..

[ravfem]

*deep inhale*

i believe that when i hear people say things like, "speaking a foreign language in public is rude", i automatically assume (yes, i assume, and yes i know what that spells out) that racism plays a part in why they feel that way.

Here's the odd kinda message the Universe is sending me and making me feel like i need to say this publicly: Though i've heard that belief more & more frequently around here (SC) over the past few years, i heard it directly from my house mate last week. It took me aback, i have to admit.

i asked her why she felt that way, and she said because they might be talking about her, or plotting some kind of terrorist thing.

Both of the reasons make me laugh in disbelief. i am sure the look on my face as she was saying all this was not a pretty look. my mind was racing between, "no effin way you can really think that!" to, "girl, you are not the center of the universe", to, "omFg how...how....just plain ignorant".

i told her that though i found her to be worthy of gossip and talking about her behind her back, i doubted very seriously many other people did, *especially* strangers in public. And that though she may think it's all about her, not many others agreed, especially people who don't know her. And that i was pretty confident 2 people having a conversation that was going on before she was sharing the same public space with them (she says it happened in the grocery store that particular day), were not discussing her....they were maybe trying to decide what was for dinner, or if generic was indeed as good as name brand or maybe gossiping about a co-worker or neighbor, but i was pretty dang certain she was not the topic of their conversation.

So then, she of course said what i knew was coming next: "well, it's just rude! They are in America, they should speak english!" (i praised her for at least not saying "they should speak American", because i've heard that more than once, seriously).

OK....why? Why should everyone in one particular country only ever speak one particular language?? So we all know it's not about us?? So we can all rest easy knowing no one is plotting how to blow us up?? Give me a break.

i believe that knowing how to communicate is a good thing and might help in certain situations like if one is lost or injured and needs help, but i do not believe anyone should be forced to learn and speak any language (if their job requires it, my thought is surely they knew that before agreeing to accept the job, so they are deciding to do it).

And so what if they are talking about you?! So what??? Does it really matter what language people use when they talk about you?? Heck, i personally would rather they did use a language i don't understand while discussing how i look or what i'm wearing or why they think i'm wearing different socks. Saves me the trouble of deciding whether it's worth confronting them or just letting it slide with a smile. Because really, at the end of my day, what other people think/say about me is none of my business.

i don't believe i'm making a whole lotta sense right now, or getting my points out clearly. Maybe i need to learn how to communicate better....regardless....i just had to speak my mind. And i considered putting this elsewhere, but because of an earlier post, i decided this was where it belonged.

Now, feel free to tell me what you think, but please try to do it without being mean to me, k?