The Great Disinhibition

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From TPM Reader AK

Been reading you for over a decade and don’t think I’ve ever written in. I live in a progressive Southern city and other than a comment by a high school teacher have never encountered anti-semitism.

Our dryer broke this week and the chain hardware store contracted out the repair to a local shop. The repairman arrived and was generally unpleasant to my wife, but nothing overt until he fixed the machine. She came down with our infant daughter and he explained the problem, culminating in him saying, “If anything goes wrong, for instance if a swastika appears on your power panel.” She didn’t say anything and he left soon after.

We have a mezuzah on our front door and a menorah in our living room.

I called the chain and got a regional director on the line who was sympathetic but I doubt he’ll do anything. I don’t think it’s worth the risk of calling the local business itself. Don’t really know what to say. Rethinking a lot of things and don’t really understand how we got here.

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