For those who don’t know, I work for the Town of Markham. I am landscaper Monday to Friday 7:30am-4pm for the Town of Markham. I cut grass and other such things. 99.9% of employees that work for the Town of Markham are white. Okay maaaaaaaaaaaaybe not 99.9% but the majority is.
It was a beautiful Monday afternoon yesterday. All of the days work had already been done earlier in the day. The sun was out, not too hot and the breeze just right. While suddenly my afternoon ride in the Town truck was ruined by a stupid comment. This is how it went:
[A guy in a black BMW SUV cuts us off on Calvert road.]
Andrew [driving]: What the f*ck! Man people need to learn how to drive around here.
Chris [back seat]: Oh no wonder the guy is Chinese he’s Asian!
Leila [back seat, not taking TOO much of the comment since it’s a stereotype, there are I admit at least one for everyone out there. Whether they’re true is a different story]: HELLO ASIAN IN THE TRUCK!
Samantha [front seat]: So what? It’s true anyways!
[I see Sam giggling and smirking on the side mirrors. She goes on.]
Samantha: Honestly, I’m sick of going to a Tim Horton’s and having such a struggle to get my fucking order. If you come to Canada you should be proficient in English. English and French is the national language and people shouldn’t be able to get into the country if they can’t speak it little alone a job where you need to be able to communicate in English. And I don’t think we should accommodate those who can’t. If I walk in a Chinese store, I don’t see French and English signs up.
Leila: You can’t blame a whole race of your bad experience at Tim Horton’s! It’s who ever hired those people that you should be complaining about and who ever they are they probably did out of the kindness of their heart even if they knew they couldn’t speak English as well as you do!
Samantha: Whatever I don’t care. There are so many Chinese people now in Markham with their Chinese stores and malls and Chinese channels and stuff. If this was in the United States this would never happen. Like fuck if you want to speak Chinese go to China! There should be rules and regulation about people being let into the country. I mean that’s why 9/11 happened.
Leila: Are you dumb!!!!?? You have a choice. You don’t have to buy Chinese food, you don’t have to walk into a Chinese store and you aren’t forced to watch Chinese television program and 9/11 happened in the UNITED STATES!
Samantha: 9/11 Happened to North America, we are part of it.
Leila: 9/11 happened to the WORLD! It wasn’t just white people from the United States that died and were affected it was EVERYONE! Why defend the States, the President didn’t even recognize Canadian help when he was giving a speech.
Samantha: Whatever people who can’t speak English shouldn’t be able to get jobs. It’s just like saying if I went to a country where English wasn’t the first language I couldn’t get a job either. Lets say, Russia, if I don’t speak Russian and I moved there I wouldn’t be able to get a job just like how those people at Tim Horton’s shouldn’t be working there.
Leila: Yes you’d be able to get a job! As a TEACHER! What are you talking about you can get any job with the proper education! Learn Russian then for goodness sake if you want to go there so bad! That’s exactly what people are doing here. You can’t get into a college or university with out taking some sort of educational evaluation, one that WILL evaluate how proficient you are in English. If you’re not, then they make you take ESL!!! That’s a regulation! And why not accommodate those who don’t speak English? Some of those Chinese people are those who pay you in tax per hour to do JACK SHIT AT WORK SOMETIMES!!!!!
Samantha: That’s exactly the problem! They come here and just because they have tons of money, they come here and bring their whole family and what’s worst if because they can’t control themselves because Asians don’t believe in birth control so they make a million babies. They are over populated and have to come here.
Leila: So what’s the problem with that? Those people come here because they don’t believe that they should have to stay in a country where their first child who happens to be a girl has to be killed and buried alive! People come here for opportunity so they CAN give their FAMILIES a BETTER LIFE! That’s why my parents came here. This isn’t YOUR country! YOU don’t own this country!
Samantha: Yes I do! I was born here!
Leila: So what?! The only real Canadians are native Indians and I don’t even think that English is their first language. To say that you shouldn’t accommodate people because they can’t speak English well is like saying Matt’s grand parents wouldn’t have been able to come to Canada because they’re from Italy!!! Canada isn’t a country for white people. Canada is a country for people! I think you’re secretly racist!
[The heated conversation was interrupted by a radio call from our boss. Thank God! I wanted to knock her out! LOL! Towards the end of the day I couldn’t stand being in the same truck as her. I left the truck. I can’t help but wonder if Sam’s ignorance was something she was born with or she practices everyday]
