The convenience store run by middle-easterners....

  There's a mom & pop store in my town that is now run by people of mid-east descent. I have to plead ignorance in that I don't know if the they are Indian or Iraqi or what. I stop in there maybe 1-2x a week so we know each other loosely........small talk mostly. Nice people.........

 Stopped in tonight & the guy working was watching the coverage of the bombings (tv in the store).........& seemed very saddened/disturbed. We had about a 1 min. conversation about the incident & how crazy the world is right now. He seemed genuinely disturbed by what had happened.

 Part of me wanted to ask him a question..........but I couldn't. I'm curious if he or any of his family get any snide looks/remarks when something like this happens. Now, I'm in a small town about 35 miles N of Seattle.......not a hotbed for hate crimes........but there are ignorant/intolerant people everywhere these days. Most of the old mom/pop convenience stores around here are owned by people of mid-east or Asian descent & they are all nice people. They seem to be very content putting in 15 hr days running their stores &, honestly, I'd rather give them my biz than give it to 7-11.

 Have any of you ever seen/heard of retaliations in your neighborhoods against persons of said descent after such an incident?

 

You say this^

Then post this in another thread "America deserved this and worse."

Sounds like you're the one that is racist.

The vast majority of human beings want the same things outta life.

Because I go to a 7-11 every morning for a Diet Coke (even in Sweden this summer ), I've gotten to know several "middle eastern" owners of these stores pretty well.  I even wound up doing some free legal work for two of them.  It's really hard to generalize about them.  I knew a Coptic Christian from Egypt who hated muslims more than anyone I've ever met (of course having your family run out of a country will do that to you).  I've known Indians who hated Pakistanis so much that they had an impromptu celebration when an earthquake wiped out a few thousand.  The rest, I think, we all Pakistani themselves.  One of those would always get uncomfirtable whenever anyone asked him about his homeland, quick to remind that he had been in this country for for 25 years.  I liked him, but always thought there was a disconnect between his professed love of this country and his endless chatting on the phone in whatever language it is he spoke, his proclivity for watching Pakistani TV all the time and the like.  Don't get me wrong, he can speak whatever he wants and watch whatever he wants, but then don't give some customer grief for asking if he'd ever been to that town they caught Bin Laden in and so forth.  He doth protested too much, I thought.  Still, he was a nice guy, and we were pretty friendly even outside of the store.  The guy who bought the store from him is another Pakistani, who's also a nice guy, but he seems to have little interest in "home."  He's all about the store, and has kids scatterred throughout the best universities in the US.

I've been lucky enough the last few years to make friendships with several families from India and what was said above is correct.

They work hard, they save and they are very genuine people. Once you gain their trust and show them you are not going to be racist morons (like many in this country are) you find out a great deal about them, their country and the issues they face every day.

For people in India the goal is to escape, break free from their poverty and the only real way to do so is through education. The education system there is a rat race with only a few that get the scholarships and opportunities to get out and make a mark for themselves and their families who rely on them.

Most people from India despise Pakistan because of the terrorist actions and the repeated wars between their countries. I think MOST Americans are clueless about how great the people living here from India are.

Same thing here..... nice guy owns local convenience store and will talk my ear off every time I go in.  Always asking me how work is going, how family is doing.  I pretty much have to back out the door to get away from him.  

99.9% of immigrants who have obtained American citizenship have as much love for the US as any who were born here.  Don't forget, we're all descendants of immigrants in some way, shape, or form.   

Quote Originally Posted by THEMUGG:

  There's a mom & pop store in my town that is now run by people of mid-east descent. I have to plead ignorance in that I don't know if the they are Indian or Iraqi or what. I stop in there maybe 1-2x a week so we know each other loosely........small talk mostly. Nice people.........

 Stopped in tonight & the guy working was watching the coverage of the bombings (tv in the store).........& seemed very saddened/disturbed. We had about a 1 min. conversation about the incident & how crazy the world is right now. He seemed genuinely disturbed by what had happened.

 Part of me wanted to ask him a question..........but I couldn't. I'm curious if he or any of his family get any snide looks/remarks when something like this happens. Now, I'm in a small town about 35 miles N of Seattle.......not a hotbed for hate crimes........but there are ignorant/intolerant people everywhere these days. Most of the old mom/pop convenience stores around here are owned by people of mid-east or Asian descent & they are all nice people. They seem to be very content putting in 15 hr days running their stores &, honestly, I'd rather give them my biz than give it to 7-11.

 Have any of you ever seen/heard of retaliations in your neighborhoods against persons of said descent after such an incident?

 

Mt. Vernon? 

Exactly right. 99.9% of all people go about their daily business & leave each other alone. The problem is with Political & religious Jihadists who-in their minds-actually believe that 'their'  ways of thinking & 'their'  beliefs should apply to everybody else. The Taliban & White Supremacists &  The group & The Nazis are perfect examples. These groups will never ever win because they're outnumbered by normal thinking people-but they'll kill others given the chance.

You don't get to decide many key factors in life that affect your preferences, beliefs, view points, etc, etc and etc.  Your biological parents, where you grew up (from mobile - alabama to tokyo - japan to bombay - india), how you were raised, how many siblings you had, your family's economic status - rich, poor, middle class, your family culture, etc, etc and etc.  All these things that we cannot control are the components that affect us, each differently and to many varying degrees ... our experiences differ quite significantly from person to person ... what kind of life do the tribal kids in Congo live compare to the children running around Shinjuku district - Tokyo, Japan or the family that lives in Newport Beach, California ... from language to culture, people are just gunna be different than you ... the poster that mentions the middle eastern store owner ... yeah, I meant you too ...

Understanding that people have different life experiences, which ultimately affect *who they have become today* ... is key ... just understand that fact ... you don't have to agree with your neighbor, you don't have to agree with the middle eastern shop owner ... you just have to acknowledge that people are gunna differ from you ... many times for things that are out of their control to begin with ... then go from there ... and understanding ... or acceptance .... or just giving others a chance to be your friend becomes much easier.  

I grew up overseas on a u.s. military base ... as in born and raised overseas ... full blown military brat, but I've never stepped foot into the u.s. until it was time for college ... I was completely shell shocked when I arrived ... the U.S. ... the country of my parents ... MY country ... I didn't understand the culture here ... even after growing up on one of the largest U.S. Air Force bases in the world ... my transition to the REAL U.S. culture was quite scary to say the least ... and yes ... I speak f*cking fluent English ...  So a dude like me, now 40 years old ... 100% American ... born on a U.S. military base ... speaks fluent English ... had the roughest time adjusting to life here ... I couldn't imagine the guy from the middle east, coming to the U.S. and starting his/her own shop here ... that experience couldn't be easy ... so you understanding and accepting that people are gunna be different is one big step most people don't bother taking, that would make this world a much better place.

In college I lived in an apt complex and my neigbors next to and above included 3 Iranians, 2 Pakis, 2 Indians, 1 Aphgany, that doesn't include all of their friends. Some of the funniest guys & greatest friends I ever had.

These people are completely misunderstood by most of America.

 

Hard working, smart, good people.  Never met or really seen a mean one. 

One of the best grinders/negotiaters which also means they are patient and calm.

But they do drive me nuts with all their questions and nit-picking.  But hey, that's why they are good negotiators and probably why many are real technical careers.  

People are gonna hate, no matter what. Why not hold off on the hate until something affects you?

Why bother hate at all?   You can't make a sweeping generalization just because you got affected by one person or group. 

well said