Luc Perreault wrote an open letter to one mother in a red SUV but everyone needs to hear what he has to say.
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On July 23, 2013, Luc Perreault, from Ontario, Canada, was making a quick stop for coffee. A little girl said hello to him and he replied in kind. The girl’s mother pulled her away saying “We don’t talk to dirty bikers.” Respecting the little one enough not to say anything then, he turned to Facebook and this was his response:
To the family in the red SUV at Tim Horton’s today, Yes, I am a big 280 lbs guy with motorcycles and full of tattoos. I am a welder, I am loud, I drink beer, I swear and I look like I would eat your soul if you stare at me wrong.
What you don’t know is that I have been happily married for 11 years, my kids call me daddy, I am a college graduate, my mother is proud of me and tells everyone how lucky she is to have such a wonderful son, my nieces and nephews are always happy to see their m’noncle Luc, when my daughter broke her arm I cried more than she did. I read books, I help people, I go out of my way to thank war veterans and I even cried at Armageddon.
So next time I smile and say hi to your little girl and you grab her and tell her “No, no dear we don’t talk to dirty bikers”, remember that even though you hurt my feelings, this ‘dirty biker’ would be the first person to run into your burning house to save your little girl’s gold fish so she wouldn’t be sad!
Thank you, Luc, for showing grace under fire.
Photo: Rusty Clark/Flickr
If no one else will say this out loud, then I will: She did that because he’s male. She did not just say that because he’s a biker. She called him that, and felt free to say that to his face, because he’s a MAN. This is not just about having tattoos and riding a motorcycle. This is about how MEN are assumed to be violent and/or pedophiles until proven otherwise. I guarantee if it were a woman on the bike dressed the same way, saying hell back, the mom would not have done that. As if your daughter is… Read more »
what an odd woman
Dawn, I believe the point is that whether someone hurts your feelings or not, the future generations shouldn’t be raised with that same mentality. It’d be an amazing feat to be surrounded by kind people, but it isn’t that hard. Be it out of caution or racism, intolerance sees no difference. If you’re rude, you’re rude there’s no excuse. You never know when you’d want a big ol biker on your side, everyone has something to offer, don’t hesitate to find out what it may be.
What goes around comes around. Mom’s day will come and she’ll get it back in spades.
This will totally backfire on her in a few years.
When that girl turns 15 and finally starts to rebel against her overbearing, judgmental mom, guess who she’ll start dating….
http://www.ideacog.net/suvluv/reality/ shows how much more SUV drivers pollute the planet & lungs of anyone nearby more than any other vehicle!!…… not so clean now are you SUV Mother….? This man is just a polite salt of the earth individual amongst the rest of us individuals, she is setting her daughter off of the path for non-judgement down the wrong road to a big sad & lonely fail shutting off polite & kind people for the way that they look different to herself…. I do wish he had said something calmly & politely in his own defence or that at some… Read more »
Why do people continue to care what others think of them. I will never understand that. I have been called things too because I am a native american women. Like I give a shit what some twit who has no weight in my life says about me. I know who and what I am and feel no need to prove it to others.
Yikes! It’s bad enough that parents teach their children hate and intolerance through their actions, it’s awful to hear it come directly out of their mouths as a “rule!”
This is sad…Prejudice in all forms…be it the color of your skin, social status, and even just the way you dressed…
Prejudice in gender, for example…..
I think it’s pretty rude to refer to somebody as “dirty” in front of them.
However I think the intention was one of cautiousness. You might be Jesus incarnate, but I still think it’s fair enough for people to make snap judgements based on somebody’s appearance if it’s in the interests of being careful safety-wise.
Safety? He just replied to a little girl’s greeting. What on earth was dangerous about that?
That is horrible, what the mother said to her daughter. I really, REALLY, hope that family, especialy the mother finds that and feels ashamed. Respect for you sir.