Defending a friend
This letter is directed to the nice looking woman I encountered recently in Bakersfield.
My wife and I, along with two other couples, went to the Edwards Cinemas on Valentine's Day. We are of various colors --white, brown, pink and blue and maybe a shade of green. The white and blue friends got there before the other colors. The ladies went to get our seats in the theater, while the food gatherers, us males, went to gather our snacks.
While in line, my friend of the brown color appeared; he was a little late. He did not encroach into the line, but merely came up to say hello. But before I could say anything, this woman said, "Hey! Don't cut in line." I told her that he's just saying hello. She responded: "I know he's going to cut in and order before me. Damn wetbacks!"
I refrained from saying what I wanted to say, especially after hearing my brown friend, an American hero, reply: "Please just go ahead of us, we're in no hurry."
I couldn't sleep that night, thinking that I should have stood up to the offensive lady. What I should have told her came to me around 3 in the morning: "Lady, the only water he has on his back is the sweat from the jungles and the water from the rivers of Vietnam. And the sweat on his brow every time he thinks of his fallen buddies."
DAVE GILLIS
Bakersfield
