Bridge For Peace

The reading of, “My Grandmother Washes Her Feet in the Sink of the Bathroom at Sears” represents the struggles that people of diversity go through to uphold their own culture in the eyes of westerners. This becomes more significant since this reading takes place during Ramadan. What stood out to me during the reading was a character's quotation or more specifically the grandmother's response to the pearling eyes of the sear employees. She says, “I have washed my feet in the bathhouses of Damascus over painted bowls imported from China among the best families of Aleppo, and if you knew anything and civilization and cleanliness, you’d make wider wash bins, anyway“. it was amazing to read those lines because oftentimes when people are given judgmental looks they often ignore the stares or shy away from their culture in general.

That’s why many people stop taking in their culture because they’re afraid of people’s remarks and judgmental stares. The difference with this grandmother is that she doesn’t do any of that. She embraces that her culture is a part of who she is and must be respected. She respects herself and her role in her culture despite the eyes that others could have been easily been influenced by.

The granddaughter herself was remarkable in that she took it upon herself to be the bigger person. In those final lines she says, “ No one is fooled, but I hold the door open for everyone” and at that moment instead of getting offended, she holds the peace between the two people. She leaves the remarks and words unsaid, pretending that instead of the fighting words that were used, she takes the opportunity of the language barrier to make a peaceful truce.

So many times, wars could have been avoided if only one person took the chance to be kind. As it was said by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “ Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be achieved through understanding”. She understood that violence will do nothing, the ignorant will stay ignorant unless they themselves want to change. The girl knew this, she knew that we lived in a society where the difference isn’t easily accepted, and instead embraced the fact that this is the world we live in. Although I agree with her and find that her being the bigger person is a great thing, sometimes you must fight for your culture. Like the grandmother, instead of just letting the eyes judge her, she spoke her mind and defended herself and her culture. it’s fine to want peace, but staying silent and enduring the treatment is the reason why some people get oppressed. But in this case, violence wasn’t a choice. It wouldn’t have benefitted anyone. So by becoming the bigger person, she has become the bridge for peace.