Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - 'Diversity Training' or Can You Teach an Old Bigot New Tricks?

BigBen · 05-17-2005, 07:57 AM

What I am about to post, I AM NOT KIDDING:

My mother worked as a nurse on an Oncology (cancer treatment) ward at the local hospital.

She stated to me that she had a "______" (person of asian descent) on her ward that was about 75 years of age. He had just recovered from surgery, and was about to enter the Chemotherapy stage of treatment. He was pressing the call button, and:

"Every time I went to see him, he would talk _______ (in his native language). I couldn't understand him, and I said that if he needed anything, he needed to tell me in english. We are in Canada for god sake, not _________ (a derogatory term for a country in asia)!"

I found out later that the man was in so much pain that he was close to screaming, and he was in so much distress that he had forgotten that he was in Canada and had reverted back to his native language. My mother had failed to give him his pain medication (that was properly prescribed in LARGE quantities) and refused doctor's orders until the patient could ask for help in english.

I have never felt so ashamed of my family, my heritage and my mother. I felt like screaming. I wanted to cause her pain and then scream at her to ask for help in Farsi or she could just sit there.

I haven't talked to my mother in years, and her bigoted comments are inappropriate. I have told her that, on several occasions, and her reply is simply "You are too sensitive. You have so many _______ friends that you are starting to think like them now..."

There is no changing some people.

I have never shared that with anyone before. Fuck, it still hurts.

05-17-2005, 07:57 AM	#27 (permalink)
BigBen Comedian Location: Use the search button	What I am about to post, I AM NOT KIDDING: My mother worked as a nurse on an Oncology (cancer treatment) ward at the local hospital. She stated to me that she had a "______" (person of asian descent) on her ward that was about 75 years of age. He had just recovered from surgery, and was about to enter the Chemotherapy stage of treatment. He was pressing the call button, and: "Every time I went to see him, he would talk _______ (in his native language). I couldn't understand him, and I said that if he needed anything, he needed to tell me in english. We are in Canada for god sake, not _________ (a derogatory term for a country in asia)!" I found out later that the man was in so much pain that he was close to screaming, and he was in so much distress that he had forgotten that he was in Canada and had reverted back to his native language. My mother had failed to give him his pain medication (that was properly prescribed in LARGE quantities) and refused doctor's orders until the patient could ask for help in english. I have never felt so ashamed of my family, my heritage and my mother. I felt like screaming. I wanted to cause her pain and then scream at her to ask for help in Farsi or she could just sit there. I haven't talked to my mother in years, and her bigoted comments are inappropriate. I have told her that, on several occasions, and her reply is simply "You are too sensitive. You have so many _______ friends that you are starting to think like them now..." There is no changing some people. I have never shared that with anyone before. Fuck, it still hurts. __________________ 3.141592654 Hey, if you are impressed with my memorizing pi to 10 digits, you should see the size of my penis.