My liberal friends tend to march in lockstep on the “real me” Facebook page, with all of them excitedly posting the same story or news report. Today, five of my friends posted the following, each time preceding it with the ALL CAPS announcement that “this is a true story”:
A 50-something year old white woman arrived at her seat and saw that the passenger next to her was a black man.
Visibly furious, she called the air hostess.
“What’s the problem, ma?” the hostess asked her
“Can’t you see?” the lady said – “I was given a seat next to a black man. I can’t seat here next to him. You have to change my seat”
– “Please, calm down, ma” – said the hostess “Unfortunately, all the seats are occupied, but I’m still going to check if we have any.”
The hostess left and returned some minutes later.
“Madam, as I told you, there isn’t any empty seat in this class- economy class. But I spoke to the captain and he confirmed that there isn’t any empty seats in the economy class. We only have seats in the first class.”
And before the woman said anything, the hostess continued
“Look, it is unusual for our company to allow a passenger from the economy class change to the first class. However, given the circumstances, the commandant thinks that it would be a scandal to make a passenger travel sat next to an unpleasant person.”
And turning to the black man, the hostess said:
“Which means, Sir, if you would be so nice to pack your handbag, we have reserved you a seat in the first class…”
And all the passengers nearby, who were shocked to see the scene started applauding, some standing on their feet.”
SHARE IF YOU ARE AGAINST RACISM!
I’m against racism, but I do not feel compelled to share this story. As it happens, contrary to the ALL CAPS announcement at the head of the little essay, I do not believe that, in 2012, or 2011, or 20-anything, “a 50-something year old white woman” was “visibly furious” that she “was given a seat next to a black man.” Even Obama’s grandmother wouldn’t have done that. I mean, maybe, just maybe, back in 1954, on a short-hop flight from Mississippi to Alabama in 1954, it’s conceivable that a middle-aged white woman might have displayed the kind of open aggression. Except that black people weren’t welcome on planes back then. Never mind.
In the here and now, the likelihood of this story being true is, perhaps, 0.0001%. The only thing that’s true about this story is that it is racist, in that it is a surprisingly vicious attack against middle-aged white ladies. I take it personally, and am trying to figure out which government agency to approach so that I can file a formal complaint against Facebook for hosting blatantly false and racist material. I’m sure the Eric Holder Justice Department will be behind me all the way.
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