I witness

A faith-based thrift store in Chico. An employee and customer praise a giant corporate retailer here in town for the low prices. Iilluminate with tales of destroyed local businesses, low wages, no benefits and legal action against those attempting to organize labor unions there. Some small talk. The employee then tells me how she isn’t racist or anything, but how when she was confronted with Arabic writing and language at a local liquor store she immediately left thinking maybe they were terrorists. Jesus Christ was dark-skinned and spoke Aramaic, an ancient language that is the parent of the modern-day Arabic alphabet. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, you poor xenophobe.

Send us your rants, kudos, love letters or bizarre sightings, but keep it to 100 words. You’ll remain anonymous, but you must identify yourself for us to process your submission. Mail: Iwitness c/o CN&;R, 353 E. 2nd St., Chico, CA 95928; email: iwitness@newsreviewcom.