An englishman in New York!

Pain caused by humiliation must be one of its worst forms. I had an experience yesterday which left me with immense pain and hurt. I am simply trying to assuage it by sharing it with you. Texas, for the most part, has been a pleasant living experience for me. The weather reminds me of back home, the people are warm and friendly, much like the climate, and life moves at a comfortable pace.
In short, it's been good here up until yesterday when things took an ugly turn...literally.

Yesterday afternoon I took an exit from the freeway 114 and stopped at a traffic light. I was talking to my wife on the cellphone and missed the signal turning green for no more than a second. To my utmost surprise, I heard a honk, witnessed some frantic actions in the rearview mirror and a few minutes later was cursed at by the driver of a speeding Camry.The words still ring in my ears, “You’ve got a problem, you fu***** idiot immigrant!"

I felt seething rage rising inside me. Humiliation and insult followed. I tried to figure out what my crime was. It was not the delay and it certainly was not the fact that I was talking on the phone. The answer lied in the way we perceive people, how we see them - as white, black, rich, poor, alien, immigrant etc. I figured that this racial divide is deep-rooted in all of us and surfaces whenever our limits of patience are tested. In some cases it is less than a second, and in some a lifetime.

I remembered these lyrics from an old ‘immigrant’ song:
Takes more than combat gear to make a man
Takes more than a license for a gun
Confront your enemies, avoid them when you can
A gentleman will walk but never run...
I'm an alien I'm a legal alien. I'm an Englishman in New York