So anyway I told the guy “no you can’t have $0.25 cents” and he said “thanks allot asshole”. I said “what did you say” and he said “you’re a racist”. So for him the difference between a racist and a non racist is only $0.25? Anyway I suggested he attempt to procure gainful employment (AKA get a f*cking job) and he said “I have one”. Then I said “so why are you asking me for $0.25 cents” and he said “because I didn’t get paid today.. mother fucker”. I literally busted out laughing which I’m sure he didn’t appreciate.

Now this is the truth but I don’t care if that guy was white as a ghost and dressed in a Armani suit, I still would have said the same thing. So he walked off with his middle finger in the air and I laughed my way back to the car but when I got in the car I started thinking about the much larger issue. About his life and what made him hate me the way he did. I’m pretty sure he didn’t hate me over $0.25 cents, so it had to be something else. Then it occurred to me that I really didn’t care because I try not to generalize and am pretty sure that guy didn’t represent anyone but himself, and that he was just another dumbass. It was sad to see him so bent out of shape over $0.25 cents and ready to get into a fist fight because he assumed I hated all black people when he appeared to hate all white people.

So where does that leave us? Who knows and who cares.. I voted to Obama but agree with tax cuts for the rich (because they create jobs). I’m liberal but I believe in people taking responsibility for themselves and I support the death penalty. I’m tolerant but think we should lower the boom on people who milk the system from wall street execs to food stamp abusers. I’m a non believer but respect religion and feel that it has a valid place in society.

We all have a long way to go..

Well I love Mexicans.. so much in fact that I married one and have a permanent crew of Mexican friends. My sister even has one and calls him “husband”.

Now on to this true and startling story about a well to do, ignorant racist. My wife is 100% Mexican of Spanish decent and a 1st generation American as well. She completed the citizenship process around 2000 and enjoys dual citizenship. We have lived in Dallas for nearly 15 years and our home is 2 blocks from Highland Park which is the self proclaimed Beverly Hills of Dallas. It’s embarrassing but we actually have magazines called “Envy” and “Image”, both of which apparently enjoy robust circulation if you can stomach that. Anyway we are dog owners and our dog enjoys at least 2 hours of walks per day which are usually in and around Highland Park. Traffic is low, sidewalks are wide, homes are HUGE and you better pickup after your dog or else.  It’s a nice, safe and clean place to take a dog for a walk.

More often that not you run into the same people over and over and oddly enough, you find yourself remembering the dogs name but not the owners.  So anyway on one of our marathon walks we met a nice lady name Unice and her husband. Her name was easy to remember because he husband said “yea, her name is Unice and it’s spelled u…nice, but she’s not very nice” followed by a penguin-esq (wah wah wah). They seemed nice nice enough and obviously were very wealthy. Within 2 minutes of the conversation she was bagging about how they take their private jet to Vail. Good for them I say, no jealousy here and I’m happy for their success. We talked for almost an hour before we finally managed to pry ourselves away. We ran into Unice many times after that and she always had a way of making you stick around when you really wanted to leave. If you don’t know what I mean then you probably have that same problem. She was fun to talk to but she would not stop and we eventually started avoiding her from time to time because our dog needed a good walk more than we needed to hear the latest local gossip.  We would run into Unice at the grocery store, see her in traffic or at a restaurant. Unice is in her mid to late 70′s and is attractive for an elderly woman. She claims to have been a Neiman Marcus model back in the day and always makes effort to fix her hair, makeup and all that stuff.

Well the other day my wife who co-owns a successful business, provides jobs for people, pays lots of taxes and contributes mightily to the growth and prosperity of this Country, ran into Unice while walking our dog. They exchanged pleasantries and then Unice proceeded to tear Obama a new one about how he was costing them so much money that they had to pump their oil wells faster since Obama already raised taxes on the rich. My wife reminded her that no taxes had been raised yet but Unice was not interested in hearing about facts since she already knew everything. She asked my wife who she voted for and she told her “Obama”. Unice seemed surprised and then asked where she was from and she said “Mexico”. She then turned to my wife and said “It’s people like you that are ruining everything. Why don’t you go back to your own fucking Country and leave us alone”. Then she turned to her dog and said “come on Coco, let’s go” and stormed off.  BTW her dog is named after Channel, hence the Coco part.  My wife was in shock but started tailing Unice asking her what she was talking about and saying things like “‘Unice, I’ve known you for years and we have spoken for hours and I can’t believe that you are judging me because of who I voted for and where I come from”. Unice turned around crying and said “I’m sorry honey but we are losing so much money” and my wife said “why are you losing money, Obama has not raised taxes yet”. She had no answer because she obviously has no idea how the system works. Then Unice went on to say “well you don’t have money so how would you know?” to which my wife responded “what makes you think we don’t have money, we have plenty of money , we pay plenty of taxes, we employ lots of people so what are you talking about?”.

This went back and forth for almost an hour and over the course of that hour my wife proceeded to respectfully tear Unice a new one without raising her voice, using profanity or being an ignorant racist. Of course Unice never stopped to think about the Mexicans who manicure her lawn, repair her homes, built her homes, cook her meals, wash her dishes, iron her clothes, wash her cars, wash her plane, sweep up her hair at the beauty shop and god knows what else those awful Mexicans are doing to ruin this poor woman’s life. Who do they think they are? My wife explained to her that migrant workers don’t come here to steal jobs, they come here because Americans are as willing as ever to exploit them with illegally low wages so they can cheat on their taxes and make more money. So who is really causing the problem here? If the contractors, restaurateurs and anyone else exploiting them would stop offering them jobs and pay their fair share of taxes like the rest of us, they would eventually have to go away or go through the system and become legal. It’s funny but American people really believe that Mexicans WANT to come here.. when in fact they don’t want to come here at all. Seriously, would YOU like to have to leave your Country, your family and your friends, be treated as a second class citizen, walk across the desert, risk arrest and deportation all because you need more money to provide for yourself and for your loved ones?

I’m as white as they come and with a name like Cunningham it should be a crime to be anything other than bleached white. That said, I too felt discriminated against and was really upset that my educated, cultured, beautiful and amazing wife was disrespected by an old, ignorant, racist republican. Especially one that we knew and had built a meaningless but long lasting relationship with. My wife’s friends were upset, her parents were angry, my friends were angry and now Unice has been demoted from nice white lady to an ignorant, old racist who has probably never even left the Country. Talk about judging a book by it’s cover, we judged her in a positive way and could not have been more wrong. Maybe it was my wifes light complexion, total lack of Spanish accent or the German car she was driving, but Unice could not have been more wrong when she judged her. Unice’s husband was right and she is “not very nice” so we are done with Unice and feel pity for the misery that fills her life each day as she walks alone around Highland park with only Coco to complain to.

Now when Unice and Coco are out walking, we cross the street before we get close enough to say hello. We have chosen not to associate or even exchange pleasantries with someone as ignorant as her. Hopefully as her generation dies off a more well educated group will replace them.

BTW, we stole Texas and pretty much the entire southern part of the Country from the Mexicans anyway.