We overheard a person of Indian origin behind us on a queue vent about an incident they just experienced. Their family had been waiting for a parking spot in the middle of a snowstorm for 20 minutes. And just as the other car backed out, someone else took the spot.
When they tried to signal they were waiting, someone from the other car shouted – “Go away. You don’t belong here.”
Their rough experience turned out to be a learning moment for all of us. We ended up having a conversation about privilege, bullying, and kindness. We talked about the fact that few have the privilege of getting the kind of education that truly opens their mind.
We remembered the Michelle Obama idea – “bullies are scared people hiding inside scary people.” And we also talked about how hard it is to be kind.
The hard truth is that our kids are likely to experience incidents like this a few times – if they’re lucky (many times if unlucky) – in the coming years. It is part and parcel of not being in the majority where you live – a part of the human experience sadly.
And I’m hopeful they’ll remember these conversations when they do.
