By Alex P. Vidal
“Let’s practice motivation and love, not discrimination and hate.”—Zendaya
IF we avoid disliking or hating those who disagree with our political leanings this early, we will not find it hard to interact and assimilate with them anew once the next Philippine president and vice president have been decided after May 9, 2022.
Elections come and go; relationships, if cultivated and preserved, stay and live longer.
Election and the throwing of support to certain candidates separately have become the leading killer of relationships. It’s like a curse.
Family members who support different candidates quarrel at the dining table; friends, officemates and classmates spar openly on social media.
Before and after the US presidential election on November 3, 2020, I regularly watched the political talk show, Real Time on HBO hosted by Bill Maher, who used to also host a similar late-night show called Politically Incorrect.
Maher, who hated to the max former President Donald Trump, always exhorted the Americans “not to hate those who continued to support President Trump.”
Maher said: “We need more people speaking out. This country is not overrun with rebels and free thinkers. It’s overrun with sheep and conformists.”
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Because they are perceived to be weaker and slower, some elderly Filipinos have been the favorite targets of so-called “Asian haters” in New York and probably in other parts of the United States.
If we have elderly parents or relatives in the United States, let’s not allow them to walk or do their transactions alone. Either we accompany them if we’re available, or request somebody to chaperone them.
We just can’t trust and predict what’s on the mind of the muggers and brutes who might pounce on our parents.
If you’re Filipino, or Asian for that matter, who is fit as a fiddle or stocky, attackers in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, among other states with high incidents of hate crimes, will think twice.
No American with a normal mind will assault a civilian of any race without any apparent provocation on the sidewalks and in other public places unless he is either mentally or emotionally disturbed; or he is a criminal who intends to rob passersby randomly.
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The thugs who victimize elderly Asians are everywhere in the Big Apple; I see them every day in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
They are mostly crazy individuals or drug dependents and under the influence of liquor. And they are mostly black.
Many of them are homeless and dirty. They provoke their targets by first engaging them in word war—if they don’t bump them intentionally to get their attention.
Sometimes it depends on the victim’s reaction. If you ignore them and continue with your walk, it’s one smart move to stay away from trouble. If you’re piqued and couldn’t control your temper and emotion, you’re giving them the privilege to further harm you.
It’s probably a coincidence that in the two brutal incidents of physical assaults in March, all were Filipinos—a 53-year-old male customer in Mcdonald’s and a 73-year-old man walking to church.
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THE top five cities on my list around the world are: 1. Nagoya; 2. Vancouver; 3. New York; 4. Copenhagen; 5. Brisbane. I fell in love with Nagoya the first time I visited it because of its people, climate, and city life.
Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid that is a neurotransmitter, a chemical that transmits its signals between the nerve cells and the brain. It reduces hunger, increases sexual interest, improves memory and mental alertness, and alleviates depression. (Vitamin Bible)
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)
