Just another rant - again...

I’m back with another blog-of-frustration-vent, only because I know that only a few people will ever read it :-)

Last week; yes, it’s been bugging me that long, hence this outlet… I went to university to the LAN to do some stuff through their server… anyway, I sit down at the computer I usually use, which puts me across from another person where my computer backs onto the back of theirs and a metre to my left and right the pattern repeats. Anyway, the black African lady opposite me (I’m white), isn’t looking at her computer, she’s turned her body because she is chatting to her friend. I last quite a few minutes and then realise that I’m not going to get any work done as they are a noisy distraction … they have discussed boys, mother’s day, church and other things in very loud voices. I then give an exasperated sigh, they soften for a couple of minutes and then return to crescendo. Meanwhile, the lady to my far left has gradually been moving computers in my direction as the towers aren’t working …

I stare at the two opposite me intently for about 5 minutes. The body language of the one shows me there is a subconscious reaction to my stare as she lifts her hand to cover the side of her face I’m staring at. The other one doesn’t even blink at my stare, and she’s diagonally to my left, almost looking straight at me… now if anyone stares at me for a few seconds, I’m hyper aware; but no, not these two precious ones… (that’s sarcastic)… The discontent computer hopper is now moving to my direct left, so I say out loud “I don’t advise that you sit here, unless you want to listen to their conversation, they are very loud. Their conversation is very interesting though, it's about boys, mother’s day and church and the like.”
At this comment, which I was kindly telling computer hopper, the two precious-es are completely indignant and tell me that I am rude! That I should have asked them politely to be quieter (like that would’ve done anything)… that I have such sarcasm… So I tell them I wasn’t being sarcastic, I was interested in their conversation about boys etc…
“That is so rude to be listening to our conversation. This is a LAN, I thought the quiet space is in the library.”
“And I thought your conversation would be one that would happen over coffee and not in here.”
Then I get all the indignant tuts and they start their nervous-we’re-in-the-right-she’s-not-as-cool-as-us-10-years-my-junior friendship laughter and joke cracking. Then the precious opposite me says loudly “Only in Africa. We have to remember we’re in Africa” like she wasn’t from Africa! At which point they start to talk about why she decided to “come back here”… I was scoffing inside, wishing I could put them in their diaper place… Remembering that the last time I politely asked a black person to turn down the volume I was called racist…
Remembering a meeting I’d had earlier where the Indian guy was up in arms and sending a letter to the department to ask them what they were going to do about the white principal who looked down his nose at him because he was Indian!
In all three cases I look at who I’m interacting with – it’s not because of their colour, it is most often because of their attitude, their belief that they are superior, that the problem is always with others and not with themselves… and no human being is going to react well when faced with a virtually self-righteous attitude. Or am I the self-righteous one here? Should people being allowed to have loud conversations in a study area? Should people be allowed to have crazy loud parties in a block at 3am? Should people be allowed to go to the government department because someone treated them differently? Apparently, only if you are non-white.

The arrogance of the two sitting in the LAN doing no work, but with their gossiping tongues, in a quiet research space… yet I’m in the wrong, because I’m part of the white race and I’m not about to put up with disrespectful people…

What got me the most in the whole experience was that all of these people are due to be / are educators… they are supposed to be observant of everyone in their classroom; yet the precious-es didn’t even notice me staring, they were not aware that sarcasm is a tone that I did not have, that they were disturbing a group of us… these educators are going to be spreading their arrogance and prejudice, disseminating their behaviour and practices on all the fresh minds they will be standing up in front of… if the educators are judgmental, self-righteous and self-absorbed, will the learners manage to find a way to see that their teachers are not quality role models?
Oh Lord, please bless the children with wisdom in their decisions. Amen.