"Things I Don't Have to Think About Today"

Ten years ago, in DC, my white female then-partner and I realized halfway through moving day that one small trailer wasn't going to cut it for all our stuff. We asked our black male friend and his black male cousin, who were helping us move what we couldn't lift, to go rent a moving van (I forget the company) while we kept on packing. They came back and told us that, unfortunately, none were available on such short notice. My partner called the company and was assured that there were plenty of available vans she could rent immediately. She told the guys there must have been some mistake, and asked if they could head back and pick one up. It hit me like a sledgehammer that they had been turned down because they were two black males wanting to move a bunch of stuff across state lines in a hurry. I miserably suggested one of us ride along with them (in retrospect, we shouldn't have given the company our business. I regret it).

This December 23, after waiting an hour and a half in a jammed airport check-in line, I realized I'd somehow lost my driver's license between home and the airport--it wasn't with me. I told my family to go ahead, that I'd go home and catch a later flight, since I was sure the airline wouldn't let me on without a photo ID. My partner suggested we at least ask if there was some way I could fly ID-less. We asked, and were told this sort of thing happened fairly frequently, and I could still fly, but I'd need to go through both the X-ray-like body scan and the enhanced patdown, and have my hands tested for explosive (I guess) residue. No problem. I didn't wonder until days later if I would have been given the same treatment if I'd been in hijab, or been a Somali male, etc. I doubt it.

I came across the above cartoon, by Barry Deutsch, today via swirlspice. It reminded me of something I like even better, John Scalzi's October 2010 blog post "Things I Don't Have to Think About Today". Below are the first two stanzas, but I really recommend reading the whole thing.

Things I Don’t Have to Think About Today

Today I don’t have to think about those who hear “terrorist” when I speak my faith.
Today I don’t have to think about men who don’t believe no means no.
Today I don’t have to think about how the world is made for people who move differently than I do.
Today I don’t have to think about whether I’m married, depending on what state I’m in.
Today I don’t have to think about how I’m going to hail a cab past midnight.

Today I don’t have to think about whether store security is tailing me.
Today I don’t have to think about the look on the face of the person about to sit next to me on a plane.
Today I don’t have to think about eyes going to my chest first.
Today I don’t have to think about what people might think if they knew the medicines I took.
Today I don’t have to think about getting kicked out of a mall when I kiss my beloved hello...

[read rest of Scalzi's post]