90% sure this might have offended him had i the courage to say it in person
July 3, 2008 | 9 Comments
Dear Obnoxious, Rude American Man at Kope Café,
Yeah you - the one with the Tulsa, Oklahoma T-shirt and red baseball cap with a cross on it. Who in the hell do you think you are? The leader of the free world?! You think the whole country of Uganda should stop their constant pursuit of basic survival and cater to your every whim and fancy because you hold an American passport? You were rude to people who I consider good friends and you ruined the decent reputation of a country and a people that I have worked so hard to build. Wait, what? Your food didn’t come fast enough? In America you’d leave if the service were this bad? Well guess what genius? This country isn’t America and if you came here expecting similarities you should have left yourself parked on your couch and watched Monday Night Football instead. Let me spell it out plainly and slowly for you, okay? Uganda is a country in Africa with a different culture that isn’t wrong because it doesn’t meet your expectations. Perhaps that truth surprises you but you should learn it nonetheless. The mere fact that you came here with your American imperialism and your superior attitude proved to everyone around you today that the whole purpose of your “big trip to Uganda” is a lie. You want to “save the heathens”? You want to “bring Jesus to the masses”? How in the hell do you think Jesus would have treated someone at a restaurant who was trying the best he could to serve your group of 25 people? You think he would have yelled at them like you did? You think he would have talked at the top of his lungs so that the group I was with, who were seated outside the restaurant might I add, could hear your every complaint?
What I want to know is why you wasted your time and presumably your money to travel halfway around the world when your limited ability to experience something new has you forcing your own culture and ideals on people who deserve so much better than your oppression. Couldn’t you have just saved us all the strain of listening to you go on and on today by just not coming to Uganda in the first place? Maybe you should think about that. Maybe you should think about what an embarrassment to America you are. Maybe you should shut your mouth and try to learn something about the people and culture around you. If you’re unable to do this for any reason, please pack yourself back into your overpriced coaster bus and start your return trip home early. The people of northern Uganda have lived through too much to have some patronizing foreigner descend on their town and treat them like they are less than human. Being the kind, patient people they are, I know you won’t hear this from them and that’s why I’ve taken the trouble to share this necessary information with you personally.
Sincerely Yours,
A Concerned American Citizen Living in Uganda