Some Black Protesters Could Learn A Lot From This White Woman.
A lot has been said about this woman Jennifer Boyle, about her racism, her insensitivity, her out of her head rants at both Michels and Peet's Coffee. She's been splashed all over social media, and millions of people have spent so many incalculable minutes of their valuable time discussing her and her antics that there isn't really anything new to be said about her....
What I want to say is to the woman who recorded this video. THANK YOU. Our society has become so apathetic and uncaring that most people would have just shaken their heads and walked by. If anyone did record it, it would have been for the shock value, or for the notoriety they could get among their peers. Listening to the conversation when she approached you, no one would have ever known that you were just an ordinary shopper, out with your child doing some shopping. For the most part you did not take sides other than to tell her she needed help for her ranting and raving manner; even when she accused your child of stealing and you of having a "husband who's cheating on you" and of having "a pathetic life" you remained calm, and continued to record. You didn't get into a debate with her (as the manager spent about 8 minutes doing, to no avail) or get outwardly angry and start yelling at her, you very calmly continued to record her antics, even when she claimed to be recording your child (which I don't believe she did.)
A lot of people watching that video probably jumped up at that point and exclaimed loudly what they 'would have done' if it had been them; they would have hit her, or told her off, or "slapped the *^#@ phone out of her hand" (an actual quote from someone I know!) , and there are those who would have done exactly that. What good would it have done though? We saw what the manager accomplished. (Nothing.) For every reasonable, logical thing the manager said, Boyle came back with more nonsense. If someone (say you, the video recorder) had hit or, or cursed at her, or damaged her phone, at the very least you would have become embroiled in that woman's fantasy of discrimination at the hands of all non-Trump supporters, at the very worst you would have been arrested and charged with assault, which there would have been video of, so you would have been found guilty and would have a record. Besides which, your child would have had to suffer watching mommy get taken away by the police. Not cool....
It's my personal opinion of course, but I think you did exactly the right thing. You stood up for what was right (by making a video of as much as you could) you didn't back down when she came over to you, and you didn't inflame the situation any further by overreacting to her. She spent a couple of minutes trying to goad you into doing something, then moved away to look for other 'prey'. You and your child were still there, not in jail, not bruised, and still recording. I understood the shaking afterwards. Don't worry about it, being that close to that much hate and/or insanity can do that to you.
I think all the rioters and looters and violent protesters out here could learn a lot from you. If you give the enemy a reason to focus on you, your cause is lost and forgotten, i.e. if you had screamed or cursed at her, the fact that the video was about her behavior would have been lost. It would have become all about you and how you behaved. As it was, I got a very clear picture of her and what she was doing, and how uncalled for it was. This is what's happened with BLM; everyone has become so riled up about some of the protesters' behavior that what they are protesting, the original basis for BLM, has been pushed aside.
For me, your video was about much more than the wild raving of some woman. It clearly showed the difference between Trump supporters and non-supporters, and validated some of what so many have said about the upcoming administration.
Thank you.
*The opinions expressed in this blog are those of its author only, and in no way represent Blogger, Google, or any other entity.
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