I was shopping at an ethnic store in Melbourne. They mostly sell a wide variety of Sri Lankan and Indian groceries. They are quite popular and people from other ethnicities too shop there, though the clientele is mostly people of Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan origin. Often one can see Australians as well as Middle Easterners. I have even seen some Europeans. There are others from South East Asian countries as well.
The shop is 'organised' in a typical Asian fashion with attempts at streamlining the checkout not quite up to typical Australian standards. Still, it is a fun place to shop at. Usually, people are very good at lining up, courteous, friendly and sometimes will let a person with just one item go ahead of them if they have a large number of items to check out. While one does not always have to ask to cut ahead, usually one receives a warm - 'go ahead' if asked. Often the non-Indians/SriLankans, will ask us about an item they want to buy, how to cook it or what we would recommend for some occasion. It can be a fun way to learn about the cuisine for someone wanting to explore the cuisine of India/SriLanka.
This day, I had stood in for a long time, even with just a few ahead of me in the queue. Many of them had a large number of items. There were two other checkout lanes open. Many deserted my line and went over to the others. I had just a couple of items to check out and having waited for long, decided to stay in the same line. There was just one person behind me.
As my turn was approaching, an old man, appearing to be in his 70s and of South East Asian origin, walked past me with something in his hand and plonked it on the counter in front of me, just as the previous customer's items were being bagged and they were waiting to pay. The man was well dressed and looked well to do. This old man squeezed in the space between me and that previous customer. I recollected that he was with some of his family and they were talking in a language that indicated their origins. They had bought a fair few things in line a few positions ahead of me. They had apparently forgotten something and decided to come back. The women accompanying the man had moved out to the parking lot and he had decided to shop for the last item.
The person ahead of me in the line, who was just paying told the old man that the end of the line was further behind as he was being pushed and squeezed out. I too was shocked like the rest of us in line. While everyone including I would have easily let him ahead, if he had simply asked politely, this man would not even listen. He pointed to his family in the parking lot and said, that they were already ahead of us line and had forgotten one item. The checkout clerk asked him to get in line, but he still would not. He kept repeating, I have just one item, my family has already been in line. He picked up his item, shoved it into the checkout clerk's hand in front of the scanner and the item scanned! The clerk decided to go ahead and process him. The old man looked at us all in line and said, "Just because you are in Australia, you think you can be picky about asking me to stand in line."
There was the gem of truth in what he said. He must be used to getting his way back in his own country. He might even be someone who considers himself a bigshot. People might be scared of asking him to stand in line. He saw a bunch of dark skinned people, much like in his own country in the line and his natural arrogance came out. If there had been one white-skinned person in line who had insisted that the man fall in line, he might have still tried to talk his way in, but would never have shown an arrogance or made such an offensive remark to the rest. I would contend that a white clerk would NOT have processed the old man but insisted that he get back in line. This is what I call, black-on-black racism.
I can understand that if everyone else is also trying to cut in, push their way, one may be forgiven for doing so, to survive oneself. When in a system or country where everyone else is following the rule and standing patiently, when a grown, supposedly mature adult -who has done well for himself in life, one who is able to afford and travel to expensive countries like Australia, one who is supposed to be a role model for their children and grandchildren, acts like this and represents the majority or prevailing culture, their country or society can never develop.
I have always known this growing up. No matter what their wealth or other national achievements, technological or otherwise, such people in significant numbers in a society is an indicator - that they have a long, long way to go. Without ridding the society of such people or their culture, they can never become a first rate country. I was proud to be Australian!
Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2015
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