Did anybody else get this?

On Friday, a friend at work sent me this chain email, it reads as follows:

“Love This Comeback...

One of my sons serves in the military. He is still stateside, here in California. He called me yesterday to let me know how warm and welcoming people were to him, and his troops, everywhere he goes, telling me how people shake their hands, and thank them for being willing to serve, and fight, for not only our own freedoms but so that others may have them also.But he also told me about an incident in the grocery store he stopped at yesterday, on his way home from the base. He said that ahead of several people in front of him stood a woman dressed in a burkha.He said when she got to the cashier she loudly remarked about the U. S. flag lapel pin the cashier wore on her smock. The cashier reached up and touched the pin, and said proudly," Yes, I always wear it and probably always will."The woman in the burkha then asked the cashier when she was going to stop bombing her countrymen, explaining that she was Iraqi. A gentleman standing behind my son stepped forward, putting his arm around my son's shoulders, and nodding towards my son, said in a calm and gentle voice to the Iraqi woman:

"Lady, hundreds of thousands of men and women like this young man have fought and died so that YOU could stand here, in MY country and accuse a check-out cashier of bombing YOUR countrymen It is my belief that had you been this outspoken in YOUR own country, we wouldn't need to be there today. But, hey, if you have now learned how to speak out so loudly and clearly, I'll gladly buy you a ticket and pay your way back to Iraq so you can straighten out the mess in YOUR country that you are obviously here in MY country to avoid."Everyone within hearing distance cheered!”

Anybody who knows me will know that I hate chain emails, but this one in particular irked me the most! It shows how little patience Americans have. We have never lived in a war-torn country; we do not know what it would be like. Also, when referring to this lady the author of this fake letter addresses her as “the woman in the burkha”. I don’t know about any of you, but I think that there is some spite in the way the author writes that. I just feel like this is an attempt by the author to make his or herself feel a sense of self pride.

I think there is a lot of ignorance in this letter, and I feel it has become the American way to be ignorant. Most Americans would probably feel the same way as the person who “stood up” and spoke out in this letter. Most Americans however would understand that this lady has lived a life full of things that most in this country will never have to see. I respect this lady’s opinion and I feel for her. She was not able to stand up for herself in her country, she would have died. The person in this letter obviously doesn’t understand that.

I have to try not to get angry at things like this. When I sit back and realize how sad the person who wrote this must be, my anger turns to sadness. I am sorry for people who let anger and hatred fester inside of them, that is how wars start!