An Ugly Moment
“Communication is tempered by social mores…” Carol rolled her eyes and slumped in her chair. She really didn’t want to be here. Waiting at a fine dining restaurant til late, she’d over heard a lot of ‘communication’. Tempered by what people ate and drank, who they were with, how many were at a table. But what she had overheard in the morning before coming to class had really made her wonder about social mores. And it had offended her. She had had her windows open to the cool morning air. It was overcast, but no wind or rain. Traffic was quiet. A dog barked. She could hear the couple down below her talking quietly. Suddenly threatening, rasping, angry words invaded the air. Epithets and racial slurs strode down the street. Shouting and straining for a fight. “GO HOME!!” There was no response, no running of feet. Just silence.
Carol just kept getting ready for class. There was nothing in the moment that she could do about that incident. There was no communication and absolutely no respect. Social mores - merely a philosophical idea. She straightened in her seat, opened her laptop and prepared to hear more from her professor. Carol decided to go to her professor after class to discuss that unsettling episode.
“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past,
threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.”
~ Maya Angelou
**This story inspired by an actual event.
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