No subject

" ....
        Anyway, when I finally did leave the party, about 4.30, I walked up
the hill and along K Road, as you do, before catching a cab. It was a
grotty, battered little taxi, driven by a little man in Muslim garb.
        We got talking. Turned out, he was an electrical engineer. He was
finishing off his PhD part-time, feeding his family by ferrying out-of-it
twenty somethings in and out of K Road. And he couldn't understand why there
wasn't a real job for him - or for most of his friends. They were from
Pakistan; not refugees, but skilled migrants whose skills New Zealand now
didn't seemed to want.
        He asked me about my work, said he felt bad about being a drag on
the country - surely the government didn't want this? I told him I was
ashamed that he didn't have a job worthy of his skills. And then stood on
the footpath watching him drive away, kicking myself for not just tipping
him the last twenty in my wallet.
        Now, with local mosques having to increase security, with Winston
Peters standing up in Parliament to suggest that the Afghan refugees still
headed here might be terrorists, with, even here, bigotry in the air, I fear
the little guy has more problems than ever. I hope I'm wrong, I really do."

Regards,

Neil Morrison

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Stiles" <mopacrr at YAHOO.COM>


> I have also been following the discussions and have
> finally decided to throw my two cents in.
>
> Last night my daughter came home and said a student at
> her high school was in tears yesterday because someone
> said something to her.
>
> The student was from the middle east.  The comment
> made to her was about the current situation.  The girl
> still has family over there and is scared and worried
> about her family.  My first thought was tough.  There
> are plenty of people here who are scared and worried
> about their families too.
......

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