Going Postal

Aisha from It’s My Life posted a very lovely story about one man’s (her father) quest to promote the USPS Eid Stamp. This story reminded me of an experience that I had, so I thought that I would share.

A year ago, I was at a post office near my work. This post office is an urban office in a very poor neighborhood. The woman ahead of me was at the counter. She points to a poster which has pictures of Hanukah, Christmas and Eid stamps and a caption something along the line of “Express your self this holiday season.” The woman asks the clerk, “Do you know what this says?” pointing at the Eid stamp. He replies saying that he does not.

She “informs” him that the stamp says “Americans are Pigs” in Arabic. The clerk ignores her and proceeds with the task at hand. She becomes very angry, raises her voice and demands that he take the poster down and remove the Eid stamps from the office. The clerk asks her to watch her tone. She becomes belligerent screaming racial profanities left and right. The clerk becomes visibly angry, throws her mail back at her and tells her to leave or he would call the police and reminds her that her threats are a federal offense.

The whole post office staff and customers come to a standstill. The woman exits. My heart is pounding. What do I do? In a blind rage I run outside after her. I tell myself that when I reach her, I will set an example by educating her and showing her that not all Muslims hate Americans, etc.

Once outside, I see that she has created a soap box of sorts and she already has a crowd of people around her. She is yelling and screaming and telling everyone to protest the post office and that she read something on the internet that says that the stamp says that “Americans are Pigs” as well as the date in which the terrorists took the Twin Towers.

I cut through the people go up to her and tell her she is absolutely wrong and that the message is of one of God and peace. She exclaims, “You’re wrong, those Arabs don’t believe in God.” I lost it. I screamed, “Don’t you dare tell me what I believe in! You are the one terrorizing and spreading hatred.” Then I marched off.

Of course I am not Arabic, but for the first time, I inadvertly claimed to be a Muslim.