During the Chinese New Year, I visited a busy shopping complex. The car park was full, forcing me to circle it a couple of times. Finally, a car came out of a parking space right in front of me. Unfortunately, I did not have enough room to manoeuvre my car into the space.
There was a solitary car behind me, so I opened the door of my car and gestured to the other driver to reverse his car a little. Astonishingly, he did not budge an inch. I gestured again but my effort was in vain. What an unkind driver! Anger began to surge through me. When people are angry, they do stupid things. I guess I was no different. I had this urge to punish the driver by refusing to move my car so that he was stuck behind me for good. If he refuses to budge, so can I.
Fuming, I looked into my rear mirror and saw a woman sitting next to the male driver and a few children in the back seat.
Suddenly, I was jolted by a knock on my window. A Chinese man was standing by my car and he asked if I was looking for a place to park. I nodded. He said, “There’s an available space over there. Go quickly.” I was so grateful to him, “Thanks! I’m so angry with the driver behind me.”
His next words shocked me out of my rage. “What do you expect from people of that race? They behave like that!”
What made him say that? Where's the logic? A stubborn, stupid and unkind driver can be found in any race, including my own. Making racial remarks and blindly condemning others seems to be a barbaric instinct in humankind.
There's a story of a particular village occupied by two rival clans. Though of the same ethnic origin, each clan regarded the other clan with disdain. The differences ran so deep that the members of each clan refused to let their offspring marry the other clan. So, you see, this barbaric instinct is the cause of not only racial problems but also tribal conflicts.
It looks like humans can run amok anytime if they do not know how to rein themselves back.
Back to the incident in the car park. I was as stubborn and stupid as the other driver so that made two 21st century barbarians, one from each race.
There was a solitary car behind me, so I opened the door of my car and gestured to the other driver to reverse his car a little. Astonishingly, he did not budge an inch. I gestured again but my effort was in vain. What an unkind driver! Anger began to surge through me. When people are angry, they do stupid things. I guess I was no different. I had this urge to punish the driver by refusing to move my car so that he was stuck behind me for good. If he refuses to budge, so can I.
Fuming, I looked into my rear mirror and saw a woman sitting next to the male driver and a few children in the back seat.
Suddenly, I was jolted by a knock on my window. A Chinese man was standing by my car and he asked if I was looking for a place to park. I nodded. He said, “There’s an available space over there. Go quickly.” I was so grateful to him, “Thanks! I’m so angry with the driver behind me.”
His next words shocked me out of my rage. “What do you expect from people of that race? They behave like that!”
What made him say that? Where's the logic? A stubborn, stupid and unkind driver can be found in any race, including my own. Making racial remarks and blindly condemning others seems to be a barbaric instinct in humankind.
There's a story of a particular village occupied by two rival clans. Though of the same ethnic origin, each clan regarded the other clan with disdain. The differences ran so deep that the members of each clan refused to let their offspring marry the other clan. So, you see, this barbaric instinct is the cause of not only racial problems but also tribal conflicts.
It looks like humans can run amok anytime if they do not know how to rein themselves back.
Back to the incident in the car park. I was as stubborn and stupid as the other driver so that made two 21st century barbarians, one from each race.
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