Loud, Rude, and Disrespectful

On that day, I could have ranted at the loud, Caucasian man with the overly-accentuated, high pitched, rude voice who belittled a man of color who had asked, kindly, three times for some assistance.

He asked for help when no one was there. He asked again when only a few people were standing nearby the gate, and the third time the irate Caucasian man at the gate for Delta A9 became loud and demanded the man of color to settle down.

My squint became a questioning gaze as I looked behind me at the scene.

No one stood up and went forward to stop the man who shares my skin tone from displaying such arrogance and disrespectful behavior.

…

The man of color, who identified himself as a doctor, stated he did not want any trouble, for his wife works for Delta and he didn’t want to cause her to have any problems, however, he wanted to get his ticket straightened out.

The faked-haired man with the overly bossy, squirrel-like voice refused to assist him. He further demanded the man again “Settle down and to be more respectful at the counters and in the terminal.”

I thought, “What?”

Unbelievable. The man decided to leave. As he left to get his ticket printed at a different gate and I followed him. I didn’t care if others saw me or judged me.

I tapped his back “Sir,” I said, “Sir, I saw what happened, and it was wrong of him. You were not rude nor were you disrespectful.”

He said thank you so much. And hugged me right in the middle of the airport.

Then he said something, which made me think more about time and place:

He said, “It took every ounce of my self-control not to let him have it. That man is a bastard, a real bastard. I’ll see him in the Bahamas, we don’t treat people like that there.”

I, a white woman who hates injustice at every level validated a doctor’s existence. At that moment he was not a doctor, but a fellow human being.

I responded, “Sir, you did right by not giving it to him. Thank you for your example.”

He shook my hand again, thanked me and rushed to get his ticketing taken care of and I returned to my gate only a few steps away, sure others saw me run after him and I looked at them all and stood by the entry to the plane.

I’m not one to idly sit by and let someone in power demean another person.

Prior to the Dr.’s attack, the “gatekeeper of Delta” had been boasting loudly of how he handles the tickets, the computer, and all the details of Delta. I really struggled to reduce the noise of his voice and did my best to silently reduce my growing attitude against him.

So, surprised I was when I heard him again after a few minutes of silence.

Once I heard his voice raise AGAIN I knew he was in the wrong. Someone needs to stand up for those who are trampled on no matter what their degree or status.

I found myself choosing to encourage the victim and help him remain a survivor rather than admonish the gatekeeper and his arrogant and self-focused parade.

Where are the kind people today? Everywhere; everywhere you can look, there will be someone: You.

~Just a thought by Pamela

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Previously published on Medium.com.

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