Should really add this to 'I Litter and I'm Proud' but...
Standing at the bustop this morning next to the bin.
White guy and a black guy standing near me.
White guy chucks his fag packet on the floor.
I pick it up and put it in the bin saying "I'll put it in the bin for you shall I bruv?"
White guy, pointing at the Bengali guy next to him, says: "Don't bother mate, none of these fucking pakis bother!"
As I front up to him I say "What the fucks the matter with you? [I've forgotten about the littering now] Why are you calling him a fucking Paki? I guess you would have called this guy a nigger 20 years ago?"
Black guy: "You calling me a nigger?"
Me: "No you stupid cunt. You two are both a couple of stupid cunts. Go fuck yourselves."
I walk off.
Not very productive.
What should I have done?
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6 comments:
Personally, I think that although you are absolutely right to pull up this dickhead for his behaviour and racism I don't think that you achieved anything by shouting and walking away. Surely to make someone, who is clearly a clown short of a circus, realise that they are inherantly wrong you have to get them to accept the point that you are making.
What is more annoying is that he can walk away from that experience and tell a "funny" story down the pub to his equally stupid mates about a crazy guy (you) fronting him in the station. Don't you think?...
I find, and much to my personal cost and pain, that the moment I lose my temper I lose the argument. I'm no saint and I am known as having a hot temper. When I've bitten my lip and kept my cool I've always managed to be heard. Think of Kevin Keegan's 'I would luv it!' speech. Please don't think I am lecturing you because I suffer from the same curse as you... PEOPLE PISS ME OFF! That's the real me, you see. WHY ARE PEOPLE SO FUCKING STUPID - THEY ARE! THEY ARE! Sorry, there I go again... Losing the argument.
I hear what youre both saying but...with really ignorant people there is no 'winning' the arguement. The best you can hope to do is make them feel like twats. Surely he isnt gonna tell the 'funny story' down the pub of how some guy came up and called him a 'stupid cunt' and walked away...he'll be mocked. So I hope I've shamed him enough to think twice before littering/being racist next time. Wishful thinking?
I think you are right to pull this wanker up for his behaviour.
Its easier to say, sitting in front of a keyboard, but I hoped I would have been able to explain and get some message across to the moron.
I diasgree with Marcus M, that loosing your temper should necessarily loose you the argument. If you are having a conversation with an intellectaul equal, then maybe loosing your cool is a sign that you are loosing your argument. But when you have some nob who has the intellect of a gnat, I would use harsh language, because they understand force more than reasoned argument. i might even resort to a gentle slap. Especially with some random off the street.
Having lived in some Asian ghettoes, you have to admit that they are a messy bunch!
Actually, I think you could have done something even more subtle, but ego might have blocked you from it.
Just pick up the trash and put it in the bin and move on with your life.
You were not in an effective position to execute chastisement.
Chastisement comes in the form of conversation, growth, or punishment. You tried to combine conversation and punishment, but you had no effective way to communicate with him, and no real way to punish him. If you had hit him, he wouldn't have stopped littering, it would have missed the point, much like shifting to his racist comments shifted the story from litter to racism.
If you had simply picked it up, without making a fuss, he would have felt a small sense of shame. Your behaviour would have impressed him (his initial reaction would have been to think you were a complete ninny- but his real reaction would be shame). And as long as you didn't make a point of hit, his ego would be open to that feeling of shame. The next time, if a trash can was close, he would have done better.
The battle virtue must fight is to take a pounding and keep on keeping on. It requires sacrifice, patience, strength, and getting past ego.
Had you simply picked it up the white guy might even have turned to you and still said, "why bother, none of these fucking paki's bother"
Then you could have said, "lead by example" then turned to the bengali guy and said, "I'm sorry he brought you into this with those racist comments."
If you had gotten to the point of a real conversation you might even have been able to address his racist tendencies and made everyone love one another ;) hahahahahahahahaha, I'm half serious though mate. Sometimes patience and just showing who you are is the most effective form of communication and education... and people only learn when they are seeking knowledge.
Thank you my online shrinks...
I think that the Chairmanoftheboard has got it most right.
I should have kept my patience better and calmy asked the black guy if he didn't think that using the word 'paki' was a bit dodgy in that situation.
So that's that then.
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