On a recent snowy Saturday morning, my husband and I went out for breakfast at a local Greenfield restaurant. There were not many people there due to the weather conditions. As we were enjoying our eggs and home fries, I became aware of a group of five men at a nearby table. I noticed them first because of their use of foul language. I was taught that there is a time and place for that sort of thing, and a family restaurant is not the place. I did my best to ignore them, but they went on to discuss the decline of certain neighborhoods due to first, the Irish moving in, then the “coloreds” (their word, not mine), then the Puerto Ricans. They were not talking quietly, so there was no way we could avoid hearing them.

We finished our breakfast quickly and left because we were no longer enjoying ourselves. As we left, I wondered if there was a better way to address the situation. It would be foolish to think that I could change the way anyone else thinks, and it’s said that everyone has a right to their own opinion. And of course, there’s freedom of speech in this country, so they were not doing anything illegal, but their discussion made me very uncomfortable. If anyone has suggestions on how to address this type of behavior, I would love to hear it. I long for the day when we can be free of racism and intolerance, but I fear that it will not be in my lifetime.

Tracy Allen

Greenfield

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