………………Lou and Maria are two of my DEAREST friends!……Lou takes care of me….literally……When ever I need anything done Lou is there…..If I need something fixed in the house…Lou is there….if I need a ride someplace…Lou takes me….Right now he’s refinishing my floors of my entry hall way……..I would be at a loss without Lou in my life…..We have been friends for over 25 years! He calls me “Uncle Lou”….His dad and I are the same age, and I am very close to his mom, Claire, who I know for even longer then Lou….At the diner we go to almost every Sunday morning…we’re known as “The Lou’s”……..I have known Maria ever since she and Lou married many years ago, and we have spent many lovely times together…..She is one of the sweetest, kindest people I know, and I adore her!…Maria was born in Columbia and immigrated to the US many many years ago. She proudly became an American citizen way before I knew her….The other day she called my home looking for Lou, and I told her he hadn’t arrived yet. I could tell by her voice she was very upset…..so I asked her if anything was wrong?….She replied, “oh Lou, something terrible has just happened to me, and I wanted to come over and tell my husband, but I’m too upset to drive.” I asked again what happened???…..She told me she was in a local gift and home goods store buying some presents for friends…..The store was quite empty and there was one woman in front of her , and one woman behind her on the check out line…..All of a sudden, for no reason, the WHITE woman in front of her turned to Maria, and started YELLING at her!!!!…..”TRUMP IS GOING TO GET RID OF ALL PEOPLE LIKE YOU! He’s going to throw all of you Puerto Ricans out of this country! He’s going to get rid of all of you MISERABLE IMMIGRANTS!!!”…..Maria was shocked, and wasn’t even sure the woman was yelling at her, but there was no one else there except for another “white” woman standing behind her!…..The woman continued yelling at Maria telling her to speak English and not Spanish!……Maria hadn’t said a word, and said to the woman “what are you talking about, I wasn’t even speaking, and do you speak Spanish?”….the woman said yes she did speak and understand Spanish, and Maria asked her to say something in Spanish which she couldn’t. Maria told her she wasn’t an IMMIGRANT, she was a citizen of the United States, and she wasn’t Puerto Rican, and told the woman that Puerto Rico happens to be part of the United States!….and that she was terribly ignorant….The woman just kept yelling that Trump was going to GET RID of all people like YOU!!!! It got to the point that the cashier told this racist white woman she was going to call the manager! The woman quickly paid, and went about her business. She left leaving Maria shaken and frightened to the core! Maria isn’t from Puerto Rico, and was shocked the woman just assumed she was because she is was obviously a Latin woman…and really what did it matter where she was from???!!!…..The white woman behind Maria started to apologize to Maria, and Maria told her there was no reason for her to apologize to her for the other woman’s horrific behavior!…….Maria rightly said……”I guess this is what I will expect now from racists!….now that Trump has released all of the people who stormed the capital on Jan 6th…..These racists feel emboldened to say whatever they want and get away with it”. Maria told her this would have never happened if Trump wasn’t president….”He’s opened the flood gates, and has given these types of people permission to say and do whatever they like without any consequences!”…The store manager took Maria to a back room and questioned her, which Maria didn’t like…..all the while this offender was walking around the store!….Maria was so shaken when she called me to see if Lou was here at my house doing some work for me, and she said to me….”I guess this will be the new normal!….what can anyone expect when “HE” released all of those convicted seditionists from prison!”…….I guess Maria is right……What can anyone expect when the leader of out great country has freed all of these law breakers….people who have confessed to committing these crimes against our country and who attacked and killed police officers defending our nation…….What can one expect from someone who is a felon himself……What is this country becoming!!!!….Before I sat to write this I asked Maria’s permission…..After all it is not my story to tell….it’s MARIA’S STORY!……She said yes….She feels people should know what happened to her…..She fears for herself and her two daughters….She wants people to know that there are crazy, racist people out there that feel embolden to say and do whatever they want to total strangers……TO SPEW THEIR HATRED!…….I am a firm believer that what “GOES AROUND COMES AROUND”……and that this disgusting woman will eventually be devoured by her own hatred…….There is a saying….”THE SHADOW OF THE LEADER”, and Trump is casting a very wide….very BLACK SHADOW across this country causing more division, more chaos, and more HATRED then this country has ever scene before……Feel free to share Maria’s story….I know she would want you to.
I am shocked and saddened to read about this incident. I can certainly understand why Maria was traumatized.
Our strength as a nation lies in our diversity. I agree with everything you wrote Louis. I often think when listening to Trump that he is using the same tactics that Hitler did. Find a scapegoat and rally people against a “common enemy”. Currently the “enemy” is immigrants and unfortunately millions of people drank the punch Trump was serving.
What a horrific and frightening account, Louis. I was saddened to read that Maria was so traumatized…and no one came to her defense. It is frightening how the under belly of our society feels so empowered now. Fear is their main weapon from the Top down.