So, I was eavesdropping on some fellow sushi-goers today at lunch (yes, I am a shameless eavesdropper) and overheard one of them talking about how "they" race camels the way we race horses over here, but that "they" need really small riders for the camels, so "they" kidnap very young children to serve as jockeys for their camels.
Can you figure out who "they" are yet?
The speaker made various references to "places 'over there,' you know the kinds of places, bordellos and such, where you can buy a child..."
The speaker then went on to say that "they" kidnap little children, as young as 2 1/2 years old to ride the race camels, and train them.
2 1/2, huh? I'm thinking about this, and thinking about basic child behavior. First off, I starting thinking that, clearly, "they" do not value "their" children as much as we do. And that "they" must have awfully well developed infants, because so far as I know, a 2 1/2 year old can't be trained to do *anything* civil. Let alone the fact that a racing camel is fairly easy to ride, if you grow up riding them.
And then I wonder. Knowing that this story is almost certainly one of those stories that comes out of fear and underpinned with racism, but maybe there's a grain of truth. Maybe there are a few of "them" who do these horrible things, and the thing get reported and my fellow sushi-lovers pick up on them.
So then I wonder what "they" say about us. If "they" go from our headlines or, worse, our broadcasts:
"They" kidnap children to have sex with them (Amber Alerts). "They" murder pregnant women (Scott Peterson). "They" are all oversexed millionaires (Paris Hilton). "They" are so depraved, "they" even eat people (Jeffrey Dahmer)! |
