Rantings

I was at a kind of house party this past month, just talking with another guy who was there (sorry, but this story needs quite a bit of generality). We were talking about life in Dubai, and comparing it to life in other countries.

Then another guy joins our group, and out of nowhere says something like, "Man, I hate $#%@#@ Arabs. I swear to god, my last day in this country, I'm just gonna find one and punch him in the %#$^#%^!# face...I'll just walk outside and the first one I see who just gives me a wrong look, I'm just gonna beat the %@@% out of him!" He goes on for a minute or so, and then heads back inside. I turn to the guy I was talking to and say, "Man, that was weird." And then for the next 5 minutes we talk about how we've had a lot of good experiences with Arabs and how in every country, no matter where you go, there's always two kinds of people: good people, and bad people. It doesn't matter where you go, or who you meet; those are the two kinds of people you'll find.

Looking back, I wish I would've said something directly to the racist guy. He's an idiot. The only good thing about the situation is that he wasn't American. But I'm disappointed that my brain's not faster with those kind of situations. I mean, it was so out of nowhere, all I could do was listen to the guy and just kind of smile awkwardly.

I wish I had one of those brains where I could've come back with an appropriate response. As it is, every situation like that just finds me saying nothing worthwhile, but coming up with lots of smart remarks in my head for the next 2 or 3 hours.

I first noticed this inability back in high school:
Situation 1
Friend: Dude, I just smoked my first blunt this weekend.
Me: Uh, that's cool.
Situation 2
Friend: Dude, driving drunk is the only way to drive.
Me: (Awkward chuckle)

I inwardly fear that this may be my undoing someday, but I don't know how to fix it.