Discrimination hurts us all.

Seriously, tho ...

Discrimination hurts all of us. I have a bus driver who often refuses to stop the bus for Hispanic (and I presume other non-white/non-black - she's black) passengers. Today, for instance, she didn't make a stop when she was supposed to despite a Hispanic guy yelling out and waving his hand for her to stop. She eventually stopped (passed the designated stop) because someone had indicated they needed to get off. The Hispanic guy ran towards the bus, and he ALMOST made it, but she took off. And then she started talking to herself meanly, I suspect saying bad things about the guy. I didn't hear because I was in the back, but this was really, really upsetting to see. 

I've reported the case to the transportation company that runs the bus I was on, but I desperately hope they actually get the right person.

I just don't understand hate. Love feels so good; it feels so wonderful to smile at people, to say hello to people, to ask people how they're doing, to say, "No worries at all!" when people apologize to you (for simple things like bumping into you), to wish someone a good day, to send blessings on people, to wish people well ... do mean, bad, racist, evil people not know of the pleasure that accompanies kindness? I mean, there's something so incredibly beautiful about kindness that so many people don't seem aware of. It makes me pity them, really.

:) Listen to the beee.

Forget prejudice - I don't get meanness in general. Everyone's facing some kind of a struggle, if not many struggles, in life. We've ALL faced them, and we all will continue to face them because that's just how life works. Everyone really is fighting some sort of a battle, whether that battle is with their families, spouses, children, friends, God, or even themselves, but it's happening to all of us. And it's really, really hard for every individual. Why do we have to make it even harder for them by being mean to them? I do believe that mean people are struggling much more than the rest of us, or they think their struggles are worse than ours, and they deal with it all by hurting others; in their minds, their mistreatment of others or lack of respect for others is justified--but it's not.

There's this awesome video I recently saw on FB called something like "Discrimination hurts us all." Can't find it anymore, but there are some good anti-discrimination ads out there on Youtube. Totally recommend them all.

Prejudice, racism, sexism, evil are never okay, and should never be acceptable. They really, really hurt. Don't do it to anyone, and when it happens to you or if you see it happening to someone else, see if there's something you can do about it; we ow it to each other, to humanity, to ourselves, to our future generations to stand up for what's right and to fight against what's wrong, and we can support and fight in our own small ways, and that's perfectly all right. But remaining silent about it and just letting it continue is not a part of the solution.

Look, I know just saying, "Be kind - or if you can't be kind or nice, just don't be mean" sounds really simple and all, and I know life's far more complicated than this as are race relations and identity politics and human interactions more broadly and whatnot, but when I think about this, I have myself wondering if maybe being kind is actually not that difficult after all. Really, ALL it takes is to just freaking be nice. Or at least don't be mean. Fine, don't smile at people (I get that this idea of smiling at random people and greeting random passersby is a cultural thing, and in some cultures, the two (dominant) genders aren't supposed to be greeting each other in public or smiling at each other. More on that some other time, maybe.) So, okay, fine, don't smile at people - but you don't have to be mean, either. I don't think the saying "Treat people the way you want to be treated" is always a good teaching, but sometimes it is, like in this case, because none of us want to be treated like shit, none of us want to be disrespected or humiliated, none of us want to be discriminated against, none of us enjoy pain of any sort. So don't do it. I swear the don't-be-mean-to-people idea is not at all complicated.

Also, just because this image below is ALWAYS appropriate EVERY DAMN WHERE.