Chaos and Compromise

by Tony Angelo

Last night I was defined by the “n” word. I looked at my friend and his head was down. I called the bartender over, who had overheard the remark, and made a request directed to the man who made the proclamation. “I would like to buy that gentleman a drink,” I insisted.

The situation was extremely uncomfortable for the bartender. But since she was in charge of the tendering of service, she ultimately found herself imbedded in what might unfortunately become a harshly predictable episode. She replied, “Yes. Since you are the Sergeant of Arms here at the American Legion, I will do what you requested.”

The “gentleman” and the people he was with spoke quietly amongst themselves. He stood up and started to approach me. “Well, how was this going to go down,” I thought. He came up to me – his eyes firmly directed at me – and thanked me for buying him a drink.

“By the way,” I said, “I overheard your comment.” He seemed then to realize that using such a word is inflammatory. He proceeded to tell me his life experience and how his father raised him.

The challenges that he had faced with raising a son and the socialisms at the time of a transitional population had significant impact on the living conditions in his community.

I told him that we are all immigrants. We all have had slurs thrown at us. Not just because of the color of our skin, but also because of our origin. This type of “reference” also happens because of social status and economics. The bar was quiet while we were having our conversation.

We shook hands and he then returned to his side of the bar with his friends. I took out my camera and began shooting pictures of all the legion Commanders posted on the walls that had built this post prior to me joining.

Customers in the bar came over and shook my hand and asked me if I was okay. I smiled and said I have a few more interviews about this post and the story is yet to be told.