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I was on facebook at work and my ‘friend’ Dan posted:

are you kidding me obama awarded nobel peace prize? wow.

Friend is in quotes, because Dan is an acquaintance that I met a long time ago, who moved away a year ago, and has now returned. He was a security guard at a bar I frequented, who often did coke in the back, who would whine and plead, “Be my boyyyfriend!” in that endearing way only a twenty-seven year old grown man can. I was non-plused by his status, with the exception of how behind the times it was. Before he moved I was unaware of his political leanings, and while away he had posted the odd clip praising Glenn Beck. I’m tolerant enough to not try to argue Glenn Beck with him, but I’m not a fan, let’s say.

I was, however, curious about what his gay friends would think about that status, since there is a heavy liberal slant among homosexuals. The third comment, by some guy named Mike, was as follows:

Its MLK part 2. Gotta put a nigger on a pedestal to help the advancement of equal rights. Im sorry but giving one nigger an award isnt going to offset the burden the rest of them cause on this country

I stared at the quote, and began to feel the slight rush of adrenaline that accompanies anger. I forget that there are people sheltered enough to be so genuinely racist. To get to that point, I feel that not only does it have to be bred into people, taught to them as children, but they also have to completely  avoid interacting with minorities. The way I see it, there’s no other way to get to that “Us vs. Them” mentality.

Naturally, someone posted a “WTF?” I do always appreciate people who speak up on these topics. I often find myself stymied. I want to find the perfect, most eloquent response, but I’m aware that there is no point in arguing with someone who’s racist. They’ve already been told they’re wrong a million times before, by every source possible. It just makes them hold their beliefs more closely. Mike posted a few more comments, tossing the word nigger back and forth, using it more frequently than his Shift key.

I wasn’t really bothered by this. Well, I was, but I am aware there are people who assume things about me because my father is black. I kept refreshing the post throughout the day, wanting to see how the conversation would play out. Eventually, Dan, my acquaintance, who originally posted the story, posted:

All I mentioned was that I couldn’t believe Obama was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. He accomplished nothing to deserve that in my opinion.

This is what hurt me. What the fuck, Dan? Your friend goes on a rant about how any city “heavily populated by niggers”  is ruined, and you only response is, “Let’s get back to Obama”? I don’t know what his life was like when he moved away, but I know that before he did, he had many minority friends, myself being one of them. How could he pretend not to see this guy spouting profanities up and down his facebook page?

Maybe Dan and I were never friends to begin with. Perhaps when I told him that I programmed web sites and video games, and he visibly flinched with shock, he wasn’t surprised that I was smart, but rather someone of my race was smart. Maybe he’d fuck a nigger, or keep one as an acquaintance, but never a friend. I consider these desperate, ridiculous thoughts, but they still occurred to me.

I was thinking about this on the train, and was still rolling it through my mind as I left the station, wondering if I should be angry or not at Dan. A guy came up to me, and asked, “Hey, do you have fifty cents for a phone?” In a standard born-in-New York response, I held up my hand, not stopping, and replied, “Sorry, no change”. In this instance, it was true, though my response would have been the same had it not been. As the stranger walked away, he mumbled, “Fucking faggot.”

Sometimes, I forget that there are so many different kinds of people in the world.

Must stop wearing argyle briefs to the gym.

andyv01c0m:

burn:

andyv01c0m:

So I fell down on my bed and knocked out almost immediately when I got home from school. Slept most of it, probably like 20 minutes before I woke up I had a dream where I was having conversation with Lostbeats. I was telling him it’d be cool if burn and him both played WoW and then he told me they did and I got real excited up until he said he played a gnome mage…

Then I just walked away.

I played WoW in the pre-bc days as an Orc Warlock to 60, among various other alts. I’ve played every MMoG since I beta tested Everquest 1 in 4th grade. Aion is just okay.

Demonic Sacrifice + Affliction Spec FTW

You would’ve enjoyed Soul Link/Siphon Life in BC. It was basically LOL look at me life drain and never die. At the moment, it takes friends to enjoy WoW. Hard to like by yourself. Aion just seemed like it was going to be too much of a grind. That or WoW has just made me lazy cause FFXI was a big grind too. I plan on living out WoW up until FFXIV.

RDM 30/NIN 40/RNG 50

Good lord, I’m glad I get out more these days.

andyv01c0m:

So I fell down on my bed and knocked out almost immediately when I got home from school. Slept most of it, probably like 20 minutes before I woke up I had a dream where I was having conversation with Lostbeats. I was telling him it’d be cool if burn and him both played WoW and then he told me they did and I got real excited up until he said he played a gnome mage…

Then I just walked away.

I played WoW in the pre-bc days as an Orc Warlock to 60, among various other alts. I’ve played every MMoG since I beta tested Everquest 1 in 4th grade. Aion is just okay.

Demonic Sacrifice + Affliction Spec FTW

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