In my opinion, Linda was simply stating that there was a particular group of people that made her feel uncomfortable by staring her. This is a fair comment. She went on to identify the group by the most obvious method, their physical appearance (being East Indian). Some took great offense to this, but may want to rethink it. Let me explain… if a Caucasian male broke into you home and you saw him run away you’d tell the police that a white guy stole your stuff. That’s not being racist, it’s simply identifying the individual(s) involved. If you saw an Asian girl steeling, you’d tell the police or the loss prevention officer (LPO) that an Asian Girl was steeling. That’s not being racist, again it’s simply identifying.

Linda went on to explain that in her opinion, if it were another group, say a bunch of white older men, the reaction would be different and they would be asked to leave. This might be true. Security may not want to create an incident because the accusation of racism comes so quickly and forcefully, as is evidenced with all the previous comments. It’s simply her opinion and she’s entitled to it. Nothing was overtly racist or offensive.

It’s not illegal to stare, but it is generally thought of as rude. But let’s keep in mind there are rude people everywhere, we deal with them every day; they are rude in many different ways. Sometimes you just have to tolerate it. Is it loitering? Technically, yes! However, the intent of this law is to prevent people from hanging around and causing a ‘disturbance’, which I don’t believe is the case here.

I’m not going to identify my race, age, or religion because it doesn’t matter here. Nor does my ancestry matter or how long me or my family has been here. That being said, the ‘when in Rome’ comment does have some merit. Let me explain… if my sister went to Saudi Arabia she would not be legally permitted to drive. She may think that’s wrong, sexist, or whatever, but that’s how it is in that country and if you choose to be there then you must follow the ‘law of the land’. This was just one example to help illustrate that even if something is okay in your country, or in your culture, doesn’t mean it’s acceptable somewhere else… ‘when in Rome’. PS, nothing I said about Saudi Arabia was racist or rude, just fact, so let’s not get offended okay!? Just an example.

My point is that all of this got carried away, it got pushed into the realm of racism (as often things do), and down the slippery slope everyone went. There’s a lot of hateful people from all walks of life, and they just fuel the fire. Lets keep things civil and to the topic without playing the race card. Here’s how I see it:

Facts:
- It has been noted that there is a higher than normal amount of elderly East Indian men in the mall making some people feel uncomfortable because it is believed they are staring.
- Technically, it is considered loitering.
- However, the intent of loitering is to have a law to enforce the removal of individual(s) if they are causing a disturbance, which these elderly men are not.
- In Canadian culture, staring is considered rude, and even creepy in some circumstances. (Opinion: people are treated rudely every day. If I’m treated poorly in a particular restaurant, I simply don’t go there again. I don’t get upset, state that I have the right to go there, and try to make them polite. Just don’t go there, just like you probably avoid the bars on 96th street downtown).

Problem solved, in my opinion anyway. Please, be rational, be fair, and don’t be rude.

it seems like a far more worthy issue than arguing about a woman upset with older men staring at her.