[Whit]

     Actually I know the feeling of being the only white guy in the crowd when "the Whiteman" is being discussed. When I worked down in Dallas at a retirement facility I was the only white guy under thirty in the entire place, certainly the only white guy in the kitchen area. Anyway, I was doing my job when I came across five or six black guys complaining about how "The Man" (the fact that 'The Man' was white was clearly implied) had put liquor stores and pawn shops on every corner of "their" neighborhoods. At first they didn't see me, so I listened for a few, then I stepped up only a few feet away and leaned against a shelf and listened. Most of them broke off and went back to work, a couple of 'em just kinda looked at me a bit perplexed. So, I asked if they'd actually seen any white guys in these places in 'their' neighborhood. They assured me they never had. So I asked if these places were owned by white people, they said they thought they were mostly owned by asians. I asked how exactly white people were involved, they weren't sure, but were sure they were involved somehow.

     I then asked if they knew what the law of supply and demand was. They told me they did not. I said, "oh" and tried to explain, got tired of them giving each other confused looks, gave up and went back to work. Sigh...

     I would like to say though that the only time I really felt uncomforatable due to race was when there was a major racial flare up along the black/hispanic lines. I stayed in my storeroom, quietly staying the f--k out of it.