Unfortunately, we live in a world with lots of egotistical tosspots. These people see nothing beyond themselves. MY MY MY..... me me me.
......... I am somebody because I have/ I have done/ I own........., therefore I am owed/ I can say/I can do.........
Sometimes, well educated, yet uneducated oafs,have viewpoints being informed and influenced by media, movies, others skewed viewpoints, and social media, with a lack of self awareness and being able to think for themselves, a lack of care, sympathy and empathy............ a lack of humanity.
Yet the world is also has lots of good people, enlightened souls, those searching, reaching to become the best people they can. Those who give what they can, to others, and the world, and expect nothing in return. this can be a simple act of kindness, a smile, a listening ear, a million dollars, really its all the same, depending what you can afford.
I am sorry for davebugg and what happened. And I agree with all the points in the previous posts.
But I believe that saying nothing,or inaction,in response to such behavior, condones the perpetrators.
(yet equally just because someone doesn't say something, doesn't mean they dont have anything to say)
I guess we have to trust, that we do what we feel is right, in any given situation, and cut others slack when they do the same. Sometimes we will be right, sometimes not, (depending on your point of view).
In today's global world we all have access to instantaneous news and reactions ,( Trump, Brexit etc spring to mind),. But no one person is responsible, these have been societal shifts and reactions, due to decades of other societal shifts and reactions. We, as the human race, and global society are still evolving ( hence the neanderthal types still being here)
I came to a realisation years ago that my life isn't about me, it is about all the other people my life affects, through my words, my gestures, my actions. This is what I may be judged on, at the end of my days.
So to conclude, from the Cambridge dictionary "Rubicon : to do something that you cannot later change and will strongly influence future events:
Yes, what has happened cannot be changed, and yes, it will influence future events for both davebugg, and his extended family,(possibly including members of this forum)
Maybe this will be a catalyst for some, to understand racism, (which has been happening forever) and how debilitating it is, whether based on colour, creed, social status, ethinic minority, or nationality.
But it is up to each and every one of us how we react. Will we be passive and let it go, as this incident happened to someone else, or will we be proactive , and speak up and act for those experiencing such racism, wherever we witness it?
James