XXIII
‘And anyway, you're not from here, why don't you go back to where
you've come from?’
*
The world is changing, and not in a good way. This statement might seem far fetched but I'll explain what I mean in a bit.
First, let's start with this little episode that happened to me and my boyfriend on the way home from the pub the other day. There's a little boat moored in the docks close to where we live. Up until a few months ago it used to be "England's Only Boat Pub" with regular karaoke nights. The only time we went there we didn't stay very long, probably due to the drunk middle aged people everywhere. Since it closed down a couple of years ago we've never seen anyone on board, until a few days ago, when the boat was occupied by a few squatters. They put up a pirate flag and a sign explaining that they are using the empty boat as their home.
Having grown up in Austria, where houses are occupied regularly, I'm more than used to such a scenario. I can't say that I completely agree with people doing that but to be honest, in my opinion they can stay until they're kicked out by the owner. As long as they don't damage anything I don't see any harm, and understanding the precarious London living situation obviously helps.
At any rate, as we were walking home from the pub, we heard shouts coming from the boat. A naturally human sense of curiosity urged us to walk on. A middle aged woman was yelling at someone on the boat. We were only able to gather the words '... and I'll be your worst fucking nightmare!!' before she stomped around the corner and hurried past us. At the same moment, a man shouted at the occupants: 'You'll have something big coming your way!'
Wide-eyed, we looked at each other but kept walking so as not to get involved. However, at that moment, a woman in her early thirties, who was looking down from her window, asked the man why they had to be so horrible to the occupants. 'Mind your own business, love, will ya?', was the response she got. At this point we were slowing down properly to listen to the full argument.
'Why are you swearing at them?' the young woman asked. She had a slight accent and dark hair which made us think she might have been southern European.
'Why does it concern you, you silly girl?' The middle aged woman had apparently come back. Together with the man they were now focusing their irritation on the young woman who had dared to defend the occupants.
'But they are not doing any harm', the young woman objected.
'This is our community', the man shouted. 'We used to go to this pub, you know? We care about it. They're on the boat illegally!'
Now they were yelling at her so much that the young woman's voice was drowned out. The last sentence we heard before the two buggered off was 'And what's it to you anyway, you're not even from here! So why don't you go back to where you've come from? Like everyone else around here!'
*
In the light of the recent presidential elections in Austria (we just escaped, by the skin of our teeth, a right-wing president which might not have been the best for a country with our past) and the emerging monster of Brexit (the referendum on whether Britain remains in/leaves the EU will be held on 23rd June) I am more than alarmed by such an outbreak of oral violence. It's not the first time I've seen the unpleasantness of xenophobia but it was usually from a distance or on TV/YouTube and never in London.
Since I've moved here, this city has been so generous, so embracing, particularly for foreigners like me. As a European citizen, I'm very happy to be able to live and work here and I pay taxes just like anyone else; however, the referendum has revealed a lot of people who think differently. "Those Europeans", and "migrants in general", "take away our jobs". This is, of course, the usual argument for people who don't inform themselves. It's so much easier to blame someone else for their problems and unfortunately, politicians and media know how to stir up sentiments.
So here we are again, in the first quarter of the 21st century, with the right on the rise in several countries including the United States. The scapegoats are different to what they were roughly 70 years ago, but the arguments aren't.
