AN UGLY SITUATION

[schlomo]

An Ugly Situation

A week ago as I began my walk, I saw an elderly downtrodden Asian couple huddled next to their car. They looked traumatized. Behind them, a white young lady beside her own vehicle was furiously conversing with four cops who had parked nearby after she had presumably contacted them.  Her alleged complaint was that the couple had called her an “effing **bleep**.’’ From what I could observe, there hadn’t been an accident. Neither car seemed to have been damaged. I found it unlikely that the Asian couple had verbally abused the young woman with such foul language. The cops, who seemed to be just as incredulous as I was, didn’t interrupt her bloodthirsty tirade.

As I passed by, the couple looked even more terrified as their accuser became more unhinged, stomping her feet and wildly gesticulating.

I could only speculate about the tense scene, but I wouldn’t be surprised that the young lady epitomized the meme “Karen” (with the ferocity of a Kraken), someone who maliciously tells the authorities that a minority group has somehow offended her. Ironically, here in Hawaii, Asians are the majority ethnic group, and it is Caucasian people like “Karen” who are the minority. But I bet that the outraged lady is oblivious to such distinctions. She might well believe that an inferior foreign race has insulted her. And to protect her entitled dignity, she exaggerated this blatant insubordination.

When I walked back, everyone in the tense tableaux had departed. Since then, it is still hard for me to forget the palpable distress of the Asian couple and the almost apoplectic clamoring of the young woman.