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Bust a Move

Posted 31 months ago|20 comments|937 views
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I was online at the supermarket the other day and I was listening to an old tune by Young MC. I was very aware of my surroundings, for those of you that might ask and so I kept my bopping to just a mild nod of my face as Young MC belted out Bust a Move ever so quietly in my surround sound headphones. Apparently that was enough to get someone to start staring at me. I pretended not to notice but the old wolf huffed and puffed so much that it was hard not to smell the hot stank that came from her breath every time she paced uncomfortably three persons ahead of me. What I found profoundly amazing is how perturbed she was at something that no one else seemed to notice and that she had to turn around on each occasion in order to see so that she can express her concern in the matter. Oh how I wanted to scream but rather than give in to her antics I just lost myself to the music and let her cash out her groceries at the register with out giving her the satisfaction, all the while nodding succinctly to the beat.
UPDATE - 31 months ago
I'll update this rave by posting this little bit I've titled: Resorting to Stereotypes

If a Chinese man say's hello do you respond by clasping your hands and bowing?
What if a Jew drops a penny do you pick it up and check for pinch marks?
Let's say a Hispanic walks by do you check to see if his clothes are wet?
If a Red haired freckled faced Irish lad passes by do you check him for potatoes?
Are Germans checked for swastikas?
Are southern white Americans tracked back to only pick up trucks?

If you have answered no to any of the above then you should not have to ask if a black man who volunteers that he was quietly listening to Young MC was wearing saggy pants or exposing his underwear. On the other hand if you answered yes then it does not surprise me that you would follow that line of questioning. It is called resorting to stereotypes.

BTW: This is a rave about how I endured her humiliating behavior not a rant about a bigoted old lady. Do you know the difference? Can you explain it?
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COMMENTS
31 months ago: Was the waist band of your pants below your butt showing more underware than needed? Were you wearing shades inside? Did you test her hearing? Just because you think it was turned down low....so do boom car drivers that thud..thud..thud..from a half a mile away.
amishking
amishking
 Moderator
 Auburn, NY
31 months ago: Amen, Cypress.
31 months ago: Dang Amish. I left the "S" off of underware. Kinda like the plural of shrimp is now shrimps. Yeah. I know..underwear is proper...but what is not proper is showing underwares to little old grandmothers in the Piggly Wiggly. Or, showing too much personal piggly wiggly while in the Piggly Wiggly. Or, anywhere else for that matter.
31 months ago: I have 2000 watts (potential) of Chopin, Miles Davis, and Stevie Ray Vaughan in my trunk. However I don't sag.

That lady had problems before you encountered her D. If you were being obnoxious with it, which too many unfortunatley are, you seem smart enough and alert enough to know.
31 months ago: Please check the update above for clarification, thanks!
31 months ago: I like the addendum. Patience is a virtue and has its own rewards.
31 months ago: Nice non-answer. Don't you think all "Southern Whites" drive pickups or live in trailers or have missing teeth or, or, or?

Not me that was stereotyping. Seems you have done a pretty good job in this post on your own. You just won't admit it.

Do I need to point out your own words in this post for you?

Get your panties out of a wad because someone asked a question.

So....What was that statement Obama made...? Typical?
English Lion
English Lion
30 months ago: dwayne a couple of questions.
do your headphones go in your ears or are they like speakers on the side of your head.
was the volume up full volume.
if the volume wasnt up too loud i think alot of older people can be quite rude but maybe they are scared of the younger generation.
30 months ago: Good question. Perhaps she might still be able to hear is what you are inferring. Correct? Well, no! She could not hear because I had the volume low enough that I was able to hear what was going on around me. That means there is no way she could have heard me. Her discomfort was apparent that is clear. The reason why, not so much other than the fact that I was nodding my head to music only I could hear.
English Lion
English Lion
30 months ago: Dwayne,.
Perhaps you had something in your basket that offended her is that a possibility or you had your zipper undone?.
on a serious note if she couldnt here your music and you were doing nothing wrong then the problem is with her.
30 months ago: Which is why I chose to ignore her. But bare in mind that much like you with the portly line space skipper, I was fuming mad as well. I was just fortunate enough to keep it to myself and thereby save face. I do suspect however that it is as you eluded before, a fear on her part of a stereotype. I'm not quite sure how much though, because other than being tall, brown and with earphones there wasn't much more to stereotype. Thanks again for your input.
30 months ago: Sorry D.J. but your easy to read. You didn't ignore her or you would not have written this piece. I has been burned into your brain as an everlasting memory of President Obama's "Typical White Person" stereotype of his grandmother. You, just like he are closet...somethings...
29 months ago: Excuse me?
29 months ago: Why would you need to be excused? Your not implying that LITTLE OLD WHITE LADIES are racist. No, no, no. Nothing implied in the post that relates to the Obama statement? Nothing in the post or in your heart that feels that it's a "White Thing" against a "Black Thing"? Really. Don't try the moves ACE.
amishking
amishking
 Moderator
 Auburn, NY
29 months ago: Here it comes.
29 months ago: I doubt it.
29 months ago: Told you. Lest you question my ability to call a schmuck a schmuck or a DJ a Siempre. Either way they are all the same.
29 months ago: Geeze, is that what you are tripping on? Are you are another member of the "We miss Siempre" club? I thought it was all gotten out of the collective rant rave system in my other post:

http://www.rantrave.com/Rave/Jesus-went-...

It seems like he really knew how to push your buttons. Never fear fellow. I will not do that. If you wish to draw a conclusion that I disagree with then go right ahead. This is a free country. Don't expect me to argue with you.
English Lion
English Lion
30 months ago: i do think the woman's actions deffinately hit a nreve with you dwayne,
but then i think it would upset us all if we are all stereotyped.
the old saying is never judge a book by its colours.
people sometimes do judge other people they dont know i think thats a part of human nature but the older generation doit alot more i think and i think maybe fear of the younger generation is to blame becouse of the way its all dramatised in the newspapers and on tv.
29 months ago: I could surmise a few things directly from her behavior. These are them: suspicion, displeasure, fear and anxiety. I wouldn't say that her behavior was stereotyping unless her constant glares at me directly isolated me from the other shoppers online. That distinguishing mark of hers reduced me to three factors maybe four: black, male, tall and with earphones, because those are the characteristics that set me apart from the few other people that stood between her and I.

Who knows why she glanced back the first time? I know it could not have been me because there was nothing about my behavior that called attention to myself. I know because otherwise more than she would have been glaring at me. But that was not the case. It was only her. What set apart her first glance from all the rest that followed was as I said before: suspicion, displeasure, fear and anxiety.

What angered me is in essence what angered you in your situation, it is the act of being dismissed. You were dismissed as of no consequence. I was dismissed because of my color, height, gender or earphones or a combination of those things. In both your case and mine it did not feel good to be though of as insignificant, especially when neither you or I did anything to warrant such behavior. I wish I could have sent her a letter expressing to her how uncomfortable she made me feel as you were able to do.

In your post you had asked if people can be that rude in other parts of the world. I suppose the answer to that question is yes. Yes people can be pretty ornery.

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