This entry is brought to you by several beers and one coffee shochu. For the record, a coffee shochu is coffee liquer mixed with shochu (Japanese spirits)
The facts are these – I haven’t updated this blog in a month. I can’t even tell you why.
There have been so many things happening it’s hard to know where to start and where to finish.
Just tonight, I had an Australian citizen pose this query to me in a bar in Kyoto, Japan.
“If you’re an Aussie, you’ve definitely got an abo story.”
The amount of fucking idiocy and unbelievable inappropriateness hit me in places that I haven’t had to confront in some time.
So here I am, writing about it until I’ve purged this from my system.
From my being.
From everything I love about the country I was raised in, to everything I love about the country I currently call home.
There isn’t a place for this kind of attitude anywhere in the world. You never know who might overhear you, or who might hold you accountable. The fact of the matter is, I let this person speak their mind without holding them accountable for their words.
In.
A.
Foreign.
Country.
Where.
There.
Is.
No.
Recourse.
For.
My.
Actions.
What the hell is wrong with me? Why can’t I bring myself to hold others accountable for such disgusting attitudes?
I know I can’t change what has come before me and I’m not in a position to influence outcomes of the future.
How.
Ev.
Er.
If I’m not willing to take a stand against this kind of thing, what does this make me? As an individual. As someone who has faced racism from an early age based purely on the fact that my father was a ‘wog’ in the eyes of the masses of a small town.
This is not an exaggeration. One kid in primary school refused to sit next to me because apparently my grandfather killed his grandfather in the war.
This was 1993.
Before I was born, someone threatened to kick my mother’s stomach in order to “Kill the wog’s baby”. I’m 31 now and generally consider myself to be doing OK in this life, regardless of who raised me and how great a job they did of such a task. (Seriously, thank you Mum and Dad!)
So here’s what I’m trying to say with this post. Hold people accountable for dumb shit. Hold governments accountable. Hold friends and family accountable. Because you won’t feel anywhere near as bad as I do right now for not facing that kind of idiocy when I had the chance to do so.
Hi Paul..it is so hard to know how to act with idiocy like that. Dad prefers to walk away…as he thinks they are not worth wasting breath on..I tend to fight but sometimes come off second best…just the way I am..which is why I had to stop teaching secondary school. I still come across it a bit now but not too often…that sort of person is so low you never have a hope of correcting them…we have been blessed with knowing many people who show up how this silly attitude has been perpetuated but it is not true….so don ‘t beat yourself up about it too much…
Just as we know we need to hold someone accountable for misbehaviour I still ask how am I gonna do it without wrecking my family/friends/ or that dignity??
Sounds as if you may have been hit emotionally so for a while you couldn’t act. Everyone does that at times…On top of that you are in a a respectful place so you must be dignified in public too…it would have ended up in a brawl of some sort..a dishonourable act anywhere here but more so there. Writing this blog could be a way to stop a few people…we all love people from many cultures in our group of family and friends..the thing is when to tackle it and how and where…
Keep doing what you are…that guy was probably pissed and may not have remembered what you said anyway..thanks for the compliment too..mum
Maybe next time mimic the person or talk about ockerism?? Or ask them if they ve ever met any??But then you’d be punched and probably arrested?? Not good for your school s rep? Or for your brain…definitely a thought provoking blog this time:)