It doesn't matter if you're black or white

I have an unfortunate saying when people find out I lived in the U.S. for a large portion of my youth. "It's where I learnt about racism" is what I say when people ask me how it was.

It's sad because prior to my time in the U.S, I had never been made so aware of such levels of segregation. I remember sitting there at school as a child thinking "Why am I being told that black people, white people, yellow people, red people and so on are all equal". I always thought they were equal.

Then the whole L.A. riots started while I was there. I have a large scar on my arm that reminds me of how much this was an issue. Being white, I was automatically considered racist towards everyone who wasn't. This only made me question things even more as I sat there bleeding after the attack. Why, after all these years of living in Australia, never questioning, in fact never being subject to a social flaw was I now being attacked by that exact issue in a place that banged on about avoiding it so much?

I've started to come up with my own idea of why this is so.

If you look at certain countries, there are stereotypes that exist. While this isn't exactly polite or politically correct in saying so, they are there. Typically Asians can't drive, usually men of Middle Eastern appearance are to blame for something about oil or war. But dive deeper into this, look at Hispanic nations where religious beliefs are generally in higher concentration, you'll find that arguably the crime rate is higher too. Though at the same time, poverty is the norm around these areas as well.

Is this the same as telling a child not to touch something as you leave the room and expecting them not to touch it? Chances are, if you said nothing they probably would have just entertained themselves while you were out.

The funny thing I heard today was from my brother-in-law who just got back from the Philippines. He told me that if you're darker skinned over there, then you'll never amount to anything.

He had a bit of a hard time being fairly dark. But this society has gone as far as marketing pills that lighten your skin. There are laser treatments to reduce the nature hue your body in order to have a better acceptance in your own society, a better chance and a good future.

I guess it's much the same in India, where casting is still prevalent. There are products like lotions called Fair and Lovely that are aimed specifically at darker people in order for them to lighten up a bit and have a better acceptance.

While I'm not interested so much in the how. I am curious as to why?

Why is this even an issue?

Why can't everyone just get along?

Why aren't all humans accepted as humans instead of cast further into subdivision?

These are all questions I asked myself all those years ago back in Junior High, in Altadena CA. And it's something I ask myself now when I hear the same thing almost 20 years later.

Nothing has changed. Why?

It really saddens me that this happens.

Last year I read something that stated another observation that I found to be true. Something I had also observed.

It stated that we will all continue to be divided while we continue to stand as individuals. What this illustrated to me was what I had seen in communities where certain ethnic groups flourished while others couldn't hold two pieces of wood together if you gave each person a G-clamp. The communities that strive forth were ones where everyone helped each other. Everyone was everyone else's support. The community where everyone complained about how bad they have it were at the same time complaining about how they had no support, no one they could trust, talk to, listen to. In fact, a lot of times they were ripped off or lied to, betrayed by their own family.

This isn't to say it does or doesn't happen even in the prettiest picture. If you look at the Yin and Yang, theres a white dot in the black half and a black dot in the white half. This represents that even the good and bad sides have a little bit of each other in them.

However, what it does illustrate to me is that generally the statement is true. The local Asian community thrives, as does the Lebanese community around here. But then I look at the Armenian community here, being half Armenian. And all I see and hear is lies, backstabbing, ripping off. And the ones that are fed up with it all severe their ties all together. Yet, my Lebanese friends are going well at home, at work. Both family life and professional life is going great because no one said anything bad about you because you didn't steal something off that other person, and so the domino effect goes on.

If only the negative things were put aside and we all just concentrated on the positives then the negatives will more that likely just go away.

This brings me back to racism. Why, even when you're being told about how not to be racist are you generally being told it's bad. Another thing that puzzled me was why we were being told in Junior High that it was bad, wrong, not nice. When I personally would have thought it much better to say racism isn't right. How about being told what's so great about such an ethnic diversity?

I'm usually quite resourceful (when I want to be) and if something isn't working I don't continue to do it with that good old fashioned attitude of "keep trying" until it sinks in. I'd much rather people say "Hey, this hasn't really worked, maybe we should stop, rethink our approach and try this again from another angle".

Sadly, this won't happen any time soon. I mean, one of my mates suffers from the exact same cause, though his problems are different, the approach is the same. Keep doing what isn't working until it works. He's been in a rut for a good 80% of his life. Until I told him he's living groundhog day over and over and over.

I left the United States trying to see why people didn't think people are people. They all have the same body, they all breath the same air, drink the same water, eat the same food. They all have family, friends and jobs. Why should someone that you probably don't know have that much hatred towards them? What did they do to you that was so wrong?

Why can't everyone just accept who they are, accept who the person next to them is and just be happy that we're all living on this planet at the same time, a short time. Enjoy it.

The Blue Mountains are quite blue

The Blue Mountains is a place just a little over an hours drive from Sydney. It's a great place, with lots to see and do.

It's a part of Australia that I've visited many times. Seeing friends or just a stop over point on my way through.

There has been many years where my wife and I have both suggested we travel to the Blue Mountains to stay there. Maybe like a weekend retreat from town.

What a brilliant idea! So a nice little cottage was booked and we were on our way to Leura in fact. A place known for its gardens. Hours later, thanks to peak hour on a Friday afternoon, we finally made it.

The reviews on this place said it was nice to arrive to a lit fire. Hmm, we did say we're expecting to be there at 4-5 pm. About the time the sun goes over the hills and a fire would be lit. Sadly, I had to do that myself. And I'd expect a little more f0r $200 a night.

Little did I know I also used all the kindling for starting the fire too. And there was no block splitter to cut up a large piece of hardwood into smaller pieces so I could actually get a fire going enough for the massive pieces of timber to light up. And the pieces of timber were so big that they barely fit into the fireplace. If only I brought my axe.... oh wait.... this should all have been done for me since I was paying so much for the room.

The following day my wife and I did all the tourist things, like take the cable car and the worlds steepest railway around the mountains. That was a fun day.

We then picked up a magazine that tells us what else is on in the area. Handy, since it explained that everything in the area was too expensive. They weren't wrong.

Each time we ate food it cost us nearly $100.00

Some times nearly $200.00

On most, if not all occasions the food was probably worth about $35 at the most. On some occasions I would have demanded my money back if I weren't so hungry.

On our last night, which ended prematurely, we couldn't even find a decent place to eat, so I figured you can't go too wrong with pizza. How wrong was I?

We walked into a place that had the most amount of people, thinking if it's popular then it must be good. We were given menus and told when we're ready to order, go up to the counter. Odd, but when in Rome.

I waited a good 10 minutes before I was served, when I started with what my wife wanted. Soup of the day and a piz...... The girl interrupted, "Soup of the day?"

I repeated, "Yes, the soup of the day, on your menu"

"Soup?"

"Yes, the one on your blackboard over there"

"Of the day?"

I had to stop and think for a minute, was I speaking the correct language?

I told her to never mind and I rounded up the missus, out the door we went. Settling on a not so brilliantly presented curryhouse.

Admittedly, our entree was microwaved, but the dipping sauce made up for it. The curries we ordered were half decent too. So we left satisfied, wondering how the locals eat when we just paid $60 for 2 curries and some rice.

And, technically I shouldn't be writing this yet. I'm still suppose to be up there in the mountains, attending to my fire. Celebrating my wife and my 1st year wedding anniversary/10 years together-versary. Well, the $200 a night cottage was built in the 1930's, and despite still standing strong, the bed....more specifically the matress has seen better days. For the price I paid, I expect a matress as good as, if not better than mine.

What we got was a saggy spong with some springs in it. Were we both happen to roll into each other right in the middle of the thing. While this made it cosy, it was also annoying having to roll uphill just to turn over. Both of us are sore, tired from lack of sleep and ended up wasting $200 by not sleeping there right now and driving home instead. Which reminds me, it's bed time and I miss my level, well cusioned matress that doesn't sag or cost me $200 a night to put my back out of whack, cause me to roll up hill all night and cut a romantic weekend romp away short.

Yep, the Blue Mountains are quite blue if that's the best it has to offer. I'll stick to driving through the place on the way to something more luxurious, less expensive and much more fun... camping at Sofala.

Choices

I'm at it again. Yes, more choices.

The other day a friend tells me that they're sick of going shopping at Woolworths. So I suggest they find an alternative. They look at me like I'm asking for the impossible. As if there are no other grocery options around. They sat there and complained about the prices, the lack of quality despite the advertising campaign stating they are the "Fresh food people". Yet if you asked me to place any fruit that I deemed unworthy into the provided bins they have for wastage, I'd probably ask them to provide me with a fork lift so I could move all the pallets to the compost heap.

While there are the corner fruit shops that at least provide better quality, that give you a choice. All of a sudden every fruit shop in town is another alternative. What about other grocery chains such as Coles. While they might not be better, they are another option.

I myself shop at the Farmer's Markets on Saturday. While this limits me to what I can buy thanks to the 4 seasons Earth exhibits around the year, at least the fruit and veg is grown during a time of year it's suppose to be rather than grown in controlled environments usually aided by some form of chemical to help it along.

The downside is, I only get that one day a week to do all my shopping. If I sleep in, or miss out then I don't eat. But at least I have a choice. The local fruit shops around me provide me with less than ideal alternatives I'm willing to accept for my laziness, which has yet to happen.

This problem doesn't just stop with food. It's computers too. As an IT support business owner, the majority of complaints I get these days are about how poor Windows Vista is. While their associated service packs have fixed a lot of things, a lot of other things are still broken. Subsequently, I tell those customers that they have a choice. There are alternatives. You can go back to XP. You can try a Mac. You can install Linux. As such, my business supports all of the above.

The reality of it is, we all have choices. I mean, right now I'm reading about a few different people who have made the choice to leave suburban life, or city life and live off the land. Get away from everything and getting back to basics. This idea appeals to me, though I'm not a handy man. So I'm not sure how well I'll cope putting together a dwelling that can be lived in like some of these people I have been reading about. While you might start picturing me living in the outback, Australia. Trying to grow some cucumber for my salad. I would like to think that I could do that. However the reality is I'd supplement it purchasing foodstuffs as well. Either way, it'll be my choice. Whatever it is I do.

And that's really the whole point. So next time you hear someone say "ah well, whatayagonnado?" The answer is simple. Change.