This entry like all my entries, is recorded as I see it, through my own subjectivity. Other people may have a different emphasis and would choose to record things differently.
This particular scenario has featured in a variety of ways but this time I was very surprised by how it happened.
I was working with a very politicised disabled person who at some point over the night said to us, 'I know something about September 11th...'. We stopped her saying, 'it better not be an urban myth.' She said no, and proceeded with her story, prefacing it with the question, 'you're not Jewish are you?' Obviously expecting a negative response...
I said yes, and preempted her with, 'is this the story that Jewish people didn't go into work that day because they already knew it was going to happen?'
'Yes', she answered.
She then asked, 'is it true?'
'It's complete bollocks,' I answered and added, that it's like holocaust denial, that story.
We fell silent. Me, shaking up the ladder and trying to work out how to respond. It was on the tip of my tongue to say, 'I guess, it's good that you asked instead of believing some rubbish...' but she had changed subject.
She started talking about how people stare at her and how much worse it's got lately. To me, it sounded like she wanted to let me know that she's also mis-represented or hated or scapegoated, or something. I don't know. As I'd missed the opportunity to deal with it in my own way, I just kind of retreated into myself for the rest of the evening. It wasn't such a laugh anymore and I wanted to get out.