"We hate them."

Now more common than I ever thought imaginable.

“We hate them."

It was said in a deep and slow and guttural, disdainful way.

More like: "We HhaaaaaTe Themmm."

I remember it vividly as it was so surprising.

Was in a semi-fancy Colorado ski resort a few years back. The kind of place where many of the employees are youthful and from around the world.

Assume it's cheaper to bring in young employees from around the world and put them up in a dorm room kinda housing rather than hiring seasonal Americans who can't afford to live near the resort. Plus it makes us feel more worldly or exotic staying at a place being helped by folks with accents.

The name on the tag was Spanish and the country from South America listed underneath. Don't think I want to tell the country cause it is a delightful place and guess I'm just trying not to disparage a whole people based off one young person's words.

When I noticed the country on the tag, I exclaimed “(Country name), I’ve been there!” Reply was “Did you like it?”
“Yes, it was wonderful, food, people, sights and sounds, everything about it was terrific! Also went to (neighboring country) and it was amazing also.”

The response was immediate:

“We hate them."

I laughed, thinking it must be only semi-serious or in the manner of “hating” another sports team… So I said “That’s funny, bet you don’t really hate them.”

Employee stopped what they were doing - looked me straight in the eyes. and slowly and intentionally stated:

"We HhaaaaaTe Themmm."

“Really….? Why?”

"We HhaaaaaTe Themmm, because they are poor, and ugly and stupid. Nothing about them is worthy. "We HhaaaaaTe Themmm."

“Huh. I thought they were friendly and fun and pleasant and I was interrupted…” with "We HhaaaaaTe Themmm."

It was as if this person was no longer working in America talking to a customer. Their mind was full of the simple fact that their neighbors were poor and ugly and stupid and that they hated them.

I decided that this was no longer interesting or fun so stopped talking, finished the transaction and I went on to skiing and enjoying the day.

Have occasionally thought about this exchange over the years as it is stunning to see “hate on full display” right in front of me.

Alas, I now see it pretty frequently from acquaintances and friends alike on full display. "We HhaaaaaTe Themmm."

Nope, not gonna do it. Not going to judge entire groups of people because they belong to a group that are poor or rich, or ugly or pretty, or stupid or smart, or their gender, culture, background, religion, ideology, their party, or how they voted.

"We HhaaaaaTe Themmm."

It’s not healthy, good for our soul or theirs, it’s not good for our Country, and I’m trying my Damnedest to avoid being anywhere near it. Hope you’ll consider as well.