appalling

okay, here's the scene: i'm at work, waiting for a customer to finish picking out what groceries he needs, when this out-of-town (evidenced by their t-shirts) couple walks by. let me back-track and explain that my work is one of many stores in the river market in downtown little rock. caddy corner to us on one end is a middle eastern cusine and grocery, and caddy corner to us on another end is the river market grocery. both booths are run by families of eastern origin. back to the couple. so they're walking by and i hear this from the woman: "is this whole place staffed by terrorists, or just this store?" WOW. i guess i know in my heart of hearts that people like this do exist around me, but i think i've done a pretty good job tricking myself into believing this was just the kind of thing you see on tv or hypothesize about. i don't really know much about the people that run either of the stores, but what i see is that they are good people. do they love the united states? i don't know. are they wreaking havoc in the river market and terrorizing people? no. in fact, this woman is the only person i've ever witnessed experiencing fear related to these shop owners (who were actually not even present, i suppose it was the mere title of the store "middle eastern cuisine and grocery" that sent chills up her spine).
i'm still trying to process this occurrence...at the very least i'm quite disturbed. and saddened. i feel sorry for that woman, that she harbors such unhealthy feelings towards absent middle-eastern shop owners; i feel sad for the couple that owns the store, that they have probably been present for such hatred, and that this will likely not be the last time ugly emotions are directed at them.
i just don't know.