Casting Their Own Prejudices On You

Sometimes, if you pay attention, you can find someone’s ‘Achilles Heel’.   That is their weakness.  It isn’t that you go out on a safari, it is that they will fling words at you which are ‘autobiographical.’

Just the other day I wrote a post about friends of mine who were suddenly Rabid Anti-Putin.    They had not been political while in Jamaica, but now if you dare say ‘Russia’ or ‘Putin’  they foam at the mouth.  If you don’t join them in their hate fest they instantly accuse you of being pro.   Not just pro, but as Rabid as they are in the opposite direction.

Now you, who rarely thinks of Russia or Putin and are only trying to be ‘normal’ , that is, not even neutral, but simply normal; such as saying; “Messi is a good player,” and being viciously attacked as if what you said is coming from a state of fanatic.

Many times you watch a Cricket match, (to change sports) and you are West Indies, but you are watching Pakistan vs India.   You are watching just to see good cricket.   You might make a pleasant remark, spur of the moment as to the quality of the batsman or the bowler; and suddenly, a face, contorted in rage, claims you are a die-hard supporter of the ‘other team’.

This happens not infrequently and usually we puzzle over the overly emotional response.  But the fact is, the speaker is rabidly whatever he is defending, and is rabid, because he need to convince himself.

In many countries there are prejudices.  They make mean nothing to you, in fact, you might not be aware of them, but they mean a lot to the people who live there.   If you go to live in a foreign country it is likely to ‘fit in’ you will gather their prejudices.

You don’t know why they have this feeling, you don’t know if it is not Official Brainwashing, or some personal affront paid to a speaker,  but you might, to fit in, adopt this prejudice without knowing Why.  Without really knowing Why.

Ex-pats who try to fit in quickly grab the prejudices of those around them.  Although people might be prejudiced against them and expel their hate on others because they have to let it out, these Ex-pats will adopt the prejudices without a blink.  They can’t support the Why so become extra angry if someone doesn’t accept their position because there is nothing behind it.

Where a normal person can say; “I don’t like X because…”  and go through a long list of events, the person who is adopting this view can not explain why.  This frustration makes them angry.  They will spew invective, they will make unsupported statements, because they can not, calmly and clearly admit why.

The next time some one jumps in your face with one of those unsupported attacks, say nothing.  Don’t even bother to speak.  Let them finish and change the subject.

They needed to hear their mouth say it more than they needed to send it to your ears.