"I really need to go now, we've got the regional manager coming round and he failed us on the availability of soft drinks last time. I don't want the same to happen again." Stuart, the supermarket express store manager, really didn't want to lose his quarterly bonus for a sixth time. Everything else was ok about his assistant, but he was just not too good at ordering the right levels of stock. He didn't want to (or should couldn’t) fire him as it was his son in law and his daughter would give Stuart a hard time if he had fired her husband.

"Ah look Tahir and Mary are just walking into the shop. See, you can go now. Now I have enough cover." Kevin was a bit strict about the policy of having more than one member of staff on site at all times.

"Tahir," Stuart began "put your things in the locker, we're going to the main store to borrow some drinks from them. We've got the big dog coming this afternoon for ANOTHER store visit. I need you to come with me to help me load the drinks into the van"

"Yeah, no worries Stuart. Kev and Mary staying here yeah?"

"Yes. Mary, can you please wipe the fridge doors down before we get back? Ok Kev, see you in a bit. Any problems, just give me a call on my mobile." And they were out the door and in the van on the way to the store.

Everything's so segregated here. Not like where Tahir migrated from. Down there, there were good areas and bad areas. Not Asian and non-Asian areas. I mean, the express store is in Hollow Wood, a white area. And to get to the store in Moss Grange (also a white area) you have to drive through Chalvey Heights (a predominantly Pakistani ghetto).

"My son really hates Pakistanis" Said Stuart as they drove past Jeanith park.

'That's a bit of a random comment to be throwing into the silence that I was just enjoying' Tahir thought to himself. "Does he? Why? Even me? Is that not racist?"

"Nah, it's not racist. I understand why he's like that. You see that street there" Stuart pointed to a dead end slum street that they could see at the other end of the mud that was once a park "His mum was walking through there once and three Asian men pushed her to the ground and stole her handbag. She had been to the bank earlier and had the rent money in her bag as well as her house key and a few other bits and pieces. They had no right to do that. There was three of them and she only had my son with her. He was 6 at the time" Stuart explained.

"Wow, that's a bit of a sad story. So why wasn't it just three money grabbing thugs? Why does he need to tar everyone with the same brush? I don't do things like that and he hates me too just because I share the same skin color as the thugs who done that to his mum? It doesn't seem fair, nor does it make sense to me"

"Tell me Tahir, how would you feel if you saw that happening to your mum. If three black guys threw her to the floor and took her handbag? Would you not start hating black people?"

"No. I wouldn't start hating black guys. I'll carry on hating thugs, but I wouldn't turn my hate towards the race of the thugs in the incident I most recently witnessed. OK, let me ask you something now. Had those three have been white, would your son have started hating you, his mum, his other siblings and himself?"

"Huh? Well no. That's just silly"

"OK. Let me ask you something else. Does your son feel it's justified that the Taliban hate ALL westerners just because a few power and money lusting loons raped their country financially? Are the attacks on the twin towers justified as the rage in those terrorists had built up so much toward the people with the same skin color as the ones who the Taliban felt they were being oppressed by? Does your son think those murders were justified? Does he agree with them? Does he?"

"No he doesn't. I never saw it like that before. It's an interesting way of looking at things. You've surely convinced me that his way of thinking may in fact be slightly warped. Anyway, let’s get this loading dock door open and get those coke can cases"