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Jan. 23rd, 2003 12:39 amI think I'm starting to understand some of this hysteria about asylum seekers. Not agree with it, mind you, just understand it. I've spent a lot of time on public transport recently and I feel this has been quite illuminating, as I've overheard a fair number of (often drunken) conversations on the topic.
Most of them have revolved around people seeing "asylum seekers" driving nice cars, using flash mobile phones, working in shops... which proves that they're getting too much money from the state and/or stealing people's jobs, y'see.
Thing is, when these people say "asylum seeker", they don't always literally mean asylum seeker, do they? I mean, c'mon, how can they - they don't know (or, in many cases, even talk to) the person they later tell anecdotes about.
What they do seem to mean is "a person with a funny accent and the wrong coloured skin - definitely not from 'round here".
Ah. Yes. So that's how it is. As I say, now I understand.
Most of them have revolved around people seeing "asylum seekers" driving nice cars, using flash mobile phones, working in shops... which proves that they're getting too much money from the state and/or stealing people's jobs, y'see.
Thing is, when these people say "asylum seeker", they don't always literally mean asylum seeker, do they? I mean, c'mon, how can they - they don't know (or, in many cases, even talk to) the person they later tell anecdotes about.
What they do seem to mean is "a person with a funny accent and the wrong coloured skin - definitely not from 'round here".
Ah. Yes. So that's how it is. As I say, now I understand.
