embedded in the floating world
|
nmazca.blog embedded in the floating world |
|
Anyhow, I'd been told by the woman at the Buddhist import shop in Greenwood that the grocery owner was incredibly kind and gentle... and I found this to be an accurate description, even if my most of my dialogue with him was related to the question of using fennel seeds or powder in this recipe. What brought all of this to mind was the (sort of prideful) thought that I had, drinking my tea, of how I will continue to support such establishments because I want to establish some sort of (personal, indirect) solidarity, provide some kind of indication that I welcome the presence of that culture and that person in this community. India has nothing to do with and is nowhere near Iraq... it's slightly closer to Afghanistan... yet I know that many people in this country might easily cast all olive- and darker-skinned people into the class of the suspicious, the unfamiliar, the potential threat. I think that the non-Caucasian owners of businesses are aware of this, and thus in the last two years have I noticed the small but directly displayed American flags in ethnic establishments across the country. Or the large, white-on-red cardboard signs that plainly read "We Appreciate Your Business." To memory, I've only seen those on the premises of businesses that had a Pakistani, a Lebanese, an Indian or a Somali behind the counter... and I only began to notice them in 2002. Such a sign is affixed with duct tape inside the bottom half of the glass door at the Indian grocery. A newsprint American flag is taped inside the top half. I wince or frown to myself when I see such a display. Perhaps my ideas about the motivation, the allegiances of these owners are completely off. But I tend to read into it, "Don't be leery or suspicious of us, we're on your side. Amid the evidence of our culture, ethnicity and history, we'll display your flag." "We're not like the terrorists... and we appreciate your business." |
|
|||||||||||||||
