The unintended gift of Timothy McVeigh

THE UNINTENDED GIFT OF TIMOTHY MCVEIGH
By Catherine Butler

My son, an 11 year old wannabe in his last 24 hours of
his tenth year, and I, walked into our local grocery
store to buy ice cream for his class early yesterday
morning so he could celebrate his birthday at school,
the single most important day of the year for him. A
wonderful event in a devastating week. As we waited in
line, our arms chilled by the 7 sleeves of ice cream
sundaes we were juggling, I came face to face with the
reality of what has happened to us. I put a face to
it.

It was so simple. I know what to fight now.

The cashier was making some comment to the customers
ahead of us about the apparent evidence concerning the
Middle Eastern force behind this unspeakable act of
terrorism. 'Well," she said blithely, shoving items
into bags, "I've had some of "those people" in my line
before, and I always thought they looked nice....you
know...normal. But now I don't know what to think!"
The young guy with the bottle of Coke and the pack of
cigarettes said "Yeah, they're all fucking bastards."

My heart stopped. Okay, breathe. Just remember to
breathe. What are you going to do? Your son is
listening.

I moved up the line a bit and looked at them as they
finished the transaction and knew I had to act.

So, I got in on this conversation.

I addressed the young guy. I said, "So, are you a
terrorist?"

"What??" he said "Fuck, no!"

"Oh," I said innocently. "Well, you kind of remind me
of Tim McVeigh. You remember him, don't you? He was a
white American terrorist who blew up the federal
building in Oklahoma City a few years ago. He murdered
several hundred people with one bomb. Since you look
like him, I thought maybe you must be like him and be a
murderer."

His eyes widened in disbelief and his mouth opened, but
before he could speak, I said..."Well, I'm sure you are
not a terrorist, just because you look like one, and
either are millions of the people who live in this
country and around the world who are Middle Eastern or
Muslims. This act of hate came from the evil minds of
very few people with lots of money and lots of time to
plan. Just because you look like Tim McVeigh doesn't
mean you are like him. So, don't assume anyone else is
problematic because of their faith or their
appearance."

We stared at each other for just a moment and I
remember the store was entirely quiet, except for the
beating of my heart. The young man looked me in the
eye and gave me an imperceptible nod, picked up his
smokes and his Coke and left.

The cashier just looked at me in silence. I handed her
my money for the birthday ice creams, took my change
and my beloved son by the hand and left that store,
knowing now what the real enemy is to face. Yes, it is
a war on terrorism, but in the face of all this unity
that seems to be rallying in support against this
crime, we have a grass roots battle against hate in our
very own neighborhoods and in our homes.

No Muslim child should be afraid. No Muslim parent
should have to worry for themselves or their children
because of what a few have done. Like every innocent
American, there are equal numbers of innocent citizens
of the world who just want to live life in peace, raise
their children, celebrate their birthdays, go to
school, fall in love, practice their religion and die
in peace when their time comes. We must not allow
ourselves to condemn those whom we do not understand
under the guise of justice and fair punishment.

This has been bad enough. Americans have died and will
continue to die. Families mourn. Let's not add to the
casualty list by poisoning the air we breathe with
words that we can't take back but which stay out there
in the atmosphere to be slung around to untold amounts
of people, painting our hearts with hate.

Please, do your part to stop the spread of evil in
terms of your words, your discussions, your prejudices,
your fears and your desire for justice at the expense
of innocence. Don't contaminate your children with your
fear. Justice will prevail, but not at the expense of
our neighbors, our customers, our fellow citizens, many
of whom chose this country because of the very freedom
of religion the American Constitution defends....the
same protection you enjoy every day, whether you choose
to believe or not.

If hate wins, evil wins. Which means, whoever did this
wins.

I say no.

Go in Peace.

Catherine Butler,
San Diego, CA