I've experienced discrimination as a single parent (turned down for apartment because single parents party a lot), as a woman (ignored by elders in the hall, passed over for promotions), as an overweight woman (strangers assume I am a glutton, glance at my menu choices at a restaurant).
My son-in-law and daughter are stared at. I remember one memorable stare-er. His family and mine were at a Canadian Citizenship swearing-in ceremony. The staring twerp was there with his filipino bride and his parents. He tried to stare down my big, black son-in-law, my daughter, and my beautiful granddaughter. My SIL ignored him, and my daughter got in to a staring match right back.
I watched a Native-American/White couple, holding hands, go from rental apartment to apartment, in the immigrant side of town, go from building to building looking for an apartment. At the start of the block they looked hopeful, at the end, defeated.
Here in Alberta there is a shortage of labourers. We have temporary workers from all over the world manning our fast-food restaurants, as the Canadian-born grads are all working in the oil patch, raking in great wages. I witnessed a grumpy guy berate a Subway worker, saying he was greasy and dirty, his hat was dirty, and it turned his stomach to eat food he made. The poor Asian man, whose hat was a little greasy, was so embarrassed he went to the back. I never saw him work there again. I tell you, if that had been a white Canadian-born recent grad behind the counter, would the grumpy guy have been so rude, demeaning? I was stunned in to silence but if I ever saw anything like that again, I swear I'd say something.
