The anger of Los Angeles and other cities has erupted in my small Midwest town. It was a quiet Friday morning. Early for the lunch crowd, we went to our favorite Middle Eastern restaurant for a quiet lunch. As we finished our order, a young man with dreadlocks waited to receive his order.
“This has cheese, I don’t eat cheese.”
The clerk apologized and took the order back. In a few minutes he returned with a fresh salad.
“This has peas, I don’t eat peas,” he shouted.
The salad didn’t have any peas. This was not an item on the menu. An argument ensued. The customer grabbed a cup to fill it at the drink dispenser.
“Hey, You didn’t pay for that.”
Voices were raised. The customer was asked to leave. Once outside, he started to verbalize racial slurs against Arabs , muslins and and the police, after being told that they had been called.
The owner had locked the door after the irate young man left. He continued to yell and bang on the locked door until the police arrived. Instead of one patrol car there were three cars arriving at the same time. The young man was subdued and put in handcuffs as we watched. I don’t know if the young man had mental, anger issues or wanted to cause a diversion. The clerk commented after the incident that his Smart watch was gone.
Social fuses are burning in the country, including this small Michigan burrow. Where will it end?
*** poem
Smoldering embers
anger, hostility
quarrel sparks voices rising
body language in each other’s face
asked to leave, shouts, racial slurs slams the door
with stolen watch
carolaspot@aol.com
copyrighted 6/15/25
traveling up and down the blind highway 