Being Judged

I had an interesting experience on Sunday that I thought was worth mentioning. We were having a curry festival at church to raise money for our Rio Trip and we were all going to dress up in suitable curry-related clothes. Well, since I had lived in Pakistan before, I had my own Shalwar Kameez. I decided to wear that along with my Pakistani waistcoat and Afghani cap.

So, I walked to church dressed like that, not really expecting anyone to make a fuss about it. Well, I hadn't got far when I got a very extreme reaction in Queens Park. I was walking along a fairly wide path (wide enough for a car or two) and there was a middle-aged to elderly Scottish lady walking her dog, heading towards me.

As soon as she saw me, she did a MAJOR body-swerve and walked as far from me as possible, along the opposite side of the path. I think if there was a road in the middle to cross, she would have but given the fact there was only the path, she didn't have the choice.

As if that wasn't bad enough, it got worse when she actually passed me. I was going to smile and say "hello" or something like that if she looked at me but she actually turned her head away as she passed and actually slightly raised her arm towards me as if to protect herself from my obvious evil presence. It was SO bizarre. I've never seen anything like it.

Walking through Govanhill, a Pakistani man congratulated me on being well dressed. I'm not sure if he thought I was a convert to Islam or if he just liked seeing someone wearing traditional Pakistani clothing.

When I was at church, a number of people tried to joke about my appearance by saying things like "I'm surprised you didn't get arrested walking here dressed like that" or "Do you have a bomb vest under there?" It actually really angered me. I don't mind people poking fun at me if they think my hair's ridiculous or if they don't like my taste. I mean, whatever, have your opinion. I think what I reacted to so much about the comments was the ignorance and judgment it demonstrated.

I happen to really care about people from the Middle East - Afghanistan in particular. It's horrible to think that for many people here in Scotland, whenever they see someone dressed in middle eastern clothing they immediately judge them as some kind of scary terrorist. I feel for the innocent people who fled the horrors of war in their homeland only to be judged and treated as wicked here by the people who have offered them refuge.