Light, Love, Hope

Growing up I heard this a lot:  Do unto others as you would have done to you.  The “Golden Rule” to live by!   In fact, did you know that not only is this the “Golden Rule,” but it is biblical, too!  It truly is.  Luke 6:31 is where Jesus says, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Sadly, it seems that the vast majority of people were not taught this in their childhood, or they let it fly out the window as they became adults.

It truly is sad the way that people treat other people in this day and age.  This week I was told about an ex-girlfriend that set the guy up in a situation, he fell for it, and she, then, walked right up to him and slapped him across the face. What makes people think that it is okay to put their hand on another human being?  I don’t care how angry she was over the situation, she had no right to lay a single finger on him.

Then, I experienced ill treatment this week myself.  No, no one slapped me across the face, thankfully, but I have been discriminated against more times than I care to remember.  I hear a lot of African American people that talk about racism, but it goes both ways!  Whites can be prejudice against Blacks, just as Blacks can be prejudice against Whites!  I was on the receiving end of it once again this week!  Allow me to tell you about it.

My daughter and I spent the afternoon together shopping for a prom dress for her upcoming Senior prom.  We were having a wonderful day together.  After having lunch and laughing over the silliest of things, we walked through the parking lot with the sun beating down on us … a much welcomed change since it has been so cold here!

My daughter spotted a Cinderella type dress in the window that she wanted to try on.  Upon walking into the store, we noticed that we were the only white people in there.  The owners and workers were all black, as were the few customers that were in the building.  That did not bother me at all, though.  We went about our business looking at different dresses for her to try on, but they only had ONE Cinderella type dress; the one in the window!  So, I asked the lady behind the counter if my daughter could try it on.  I was ignored three times until I insisted once more to get someone to acknowledge me and respond.  Finally, a lady did, but she would not make eye contact with me.  She opened her mouth to talk to me but continued as if she was preoccupied with that scarf she had in her hand.  She fingered the corners of the lace and satin cloth as she shifted it here and there, never raising her eyes to meet mine, as she said, “Before we take it off the rack” … long drawn out pause …”Can you afford it, Mom?”  

Hold on just a minute!  First of all, we were already feeling discriminated against because no one would acknowledge us when I was speaking … and now this?  How did she think that was okay?  It was as if she, without making eye contact, had summed me up upon my entry into her store.  It was as if she thought I was white trash or something that couldn’t possibly afford anything in HER store.

I have had people tell me that I should have walked out right that minute.  You know what I did, though?  Trying to wipe the shocked look off of my face, I asked her how much the dress cost.  Still never making eye contact, she said with a if-you-have-to-ask-you-can’t-afford-it-tone, “It is …” again, long drawn out pause … “$325.00 … three hundred … twenty … five … dollars,” she emphasized.

I never skipped a beat when I said that yes, we could certainly afford that!

Between you and I, do I want to spend that much on a dress that my daughter will only wear one time?  NO!  But, it isn’t that I can’t afford it.  It’s more along the lines of being practical.

Back to my story.

Finally the lady that would not even so much as look me in my face told another lady to get the dress for my daughter to try on.  We took our time, and I made sure to get pictures of my daughter in the dress for her to look back on later to decide if she was going to say yes to the dress!

After we took our time in the shop, I did ask how long it would take to get the dress in if we decided to order.  I thanked the ladies, and we walked back to our car a bit deflated over the whole experience.

We went to another shop in town, though, and were treated much, MUCH, differently!  And … the same exact dress at this shop was $275.00 so not only was the other store much ruder … but they padded the price.  I wonder if they did that just because of the color of our skin!

Then today …

My daughter is graduating in May, and her wish for a graduation present is to go to Canada.  She has a lot of Canadian friends, and I have a friend that lives there as well.  So, we looked into the trip and found that it wasn’t as outrageous as we once thought.  We considered driving, but 14 hours in a car with two children isn’t appealing.  We will now fly there instead.  To do this, though, we needed to get new passports for my daughters as theirs expired in 2013.

We went to the post office today to complete the paperwork for new passports only to be greeted by an African American woman who let it be known immediately that she was going to mistreat any person that did not have her same skin color.  It was so obvious from the time we stepped foot into the post office until the time we left.  Not only did she have an attitude with us, but we witnessed this with every white person that came into the building.  It was a small post office, and this lady was the only one working the counter.  She mistreated all whites while catering to those of her same skin color.  Remember when I said that racism goes both ways?  IT DOES!  IT is NOT just whites that can be racist … this is now two incidents in just a week’s time where I feel racism has reared its ugly head.

It matters how you treat people.  It truly does!  DO UNTO OTHERS … keep that in mind … AS YOU WOULD HAVE DONE TO YOU!

If a white person had treated the black people the way WE were treated in both of the above situations that I described, they would be yelling that we were racist, prejudice, and on and on.  BUT WE ARE NOT and never have been.  I do not care what color skin you have.  I truly don’t!  Some of my best friends are black, and I love them dearly!

I know there are some that are still holding on to what the white men did to the blacks back in the slave days.  Those days are OVER, though.  And, I wasn’t around when that was happening.  I bet the people that are still in that mind set today and are holding a grudge against ALL whites were not around during that time period either.  So why treat us this way now?  We did not have slaves.  We did not have any thing to do with what happened to your ancestors.  Why hold something beyond our control and in another era against us NOW?

WE ARE ALL MADE BY GOD ABOVE!  Just like the song says:  “Red and yellow, black and white … they are precious in His sight … Jesus loves the little children of the world.”  

NEWSFLASH!  WE ARE ALL HIS CHILDREN!  NO matter what our skin color, HE formed YOU … HE formed ME … He formed EVERY ONE just the way He wanted them to be and the color HE wanted them to be as well.

WHY can’t we all just get along and put racism behind us once and for all?  Why can’t we all go back to the Golden Rule and just start treating each other BETTER and with more respect?

What a wonderful world it would be!